“Don’t forget Queenie,” Arabella said.
“I’ll go see her tomorrow,” Ashley said. “Sleep well.”
“Don’t know ‘bout that,” Arabella said. “But I’ll get more winks with two of ‘em out there.”
Thompson and Ashley were like the walking dead going down the hallway. Both of them were beyond tired, but their heads were stuffed with unbelievable information now. Fantastical stuff. It would be hard to sleep tonight trying to process it all. But as soon as Thompson dropped her off, she ran inside and hugged Sean.
“I’ve got so much to tell you,” she said. “And I will, tomorrow. Just have to sleep now.”
He didn’t say one word. He just hugged her again. She walked to the bathroom and brushed her teeth, and then got in her pajamas and fell into bed. Charlie came in and jumped up next to her and started to purr.
“Night, Charlie,” she murmured.
Outside Ashley’s apartment, Thompson had a few words with the cop waiting in the car, Deputy Simon Jones.
“Keep a good eye out all night. There are some very dangerous players now. They know we’re getting close. Can’t have anything happening to Ashley and Sean,” he said.
“No problem, just got here, have a thermos of coffee, eyes are open,” Jones said.
“Good,” Thompson said. “Call me immediately if you see anything.”
“Aren’t you going to sleep?” the deputy asked.
“Not right away. Still have to go over some things. But no matter how late, wake me up if you need to. I got a bad feeling somebody’s too close.”
“Don’t worry. Everything is in my sightlines,” Jones said.
Thompson waved and drove off. Then Jones took another look around. He glanced up every so often and looked down the street and then behind him. Then he’d check out Ashley and Sean’s apartment. He was a good cop. Very attentive. Very brave. And he would keep his eyes open all night just as he had promised Thompson.
But a figure moved quietly in the dark down the back alleyway. Someone who was experienced and very cunning. Someone who was focused on only one thing. Stopping Ashley from exposing what she had found out. Someone who had nothing to lose.
Chapter Sixteen
The street was quiet as the blackness of deep night set in. Simon pulled out some snacks he had brought and ate them, then took another sip of the coffee in his insulated bottle. He glanced around again, his eyes sweeping everywhere. Nothing. Good. It would be foolish for anyone to try and break into the apartment with him sitting there. He put his head back for a moment so he could get a more comfortable look down the street without craning his neck. As he moved his head to the side, he thought he saw a movement on the rooftop of the apartment. He jerked his head around to the other side to focus in, but didn’t see anything this time.
Could be an animal, he thought, or the low branches casting shadows.
Simon kept staring at the roof for a few minutes. Then he looked down the street again. Almost every house had the inside lights off, but most of them had their security porch lights on. That was good too. The street lamps were not bright, but they cast enough light down on the road that he would see anyone skulking around. He took another long sip of coffee. Just then, he caught a glimpse of movement on the roof again. Simon grabbed his flashlight and got out of the car and shined it at the top of the apartment building. He couldn’t quite make out what was up there, but it moved again and seemed to flatten down. He swept his powerful light across the rooftop again, and then heard a slight thump, as if someone or something had fallen down on the roof or hit the ground. He reached for his radio.
“Detective, send backup. I saw movement on top of subject’s apartment roof, might be just an animal, but I’m guessing it’s something else,” Simon said.
“Coming right up. Get back in the car and lock up. Should be there soon,” Thompson said.
Simon had woken Thompson out of a deep sleep, but the detective’s nerves jolted him awake and he called for several cars to drive over to Ashley’s apartment. Thompson then started to get dressed to head over to the apartment as well. He cursed as he fumbled with his shoes.
Meanwhile, back on Ashley’s street, the shadowy figure had dropped to the ground and knew he had just moments now to wrap everything up before other cops arrived. He ran to the front and caught the policeman from behind just before he was able to get back in his car. Then he covered Simon’s mouth and slid the knife in right through his lower back.
The shadowy figure heard a low grunt of pain before Simon fell to the ground. He picked Simon up quickly, shoved him in the car, and closed the vehicle’s door before proceeding to run back to the apartment. The figure probably had another ten minutes maximum to dispatch with the occupants before the other cops arrived. He’d do it fast. He was able to use his knife swiftly and lethally in no time flat. Then he would have just enough time to slither back into the shadows and get away.
***
A few minutes before, when the figure had been on Ashley’s roof, both Charlie and Susie Q had been inside Ashley’s bedroom. During that time, they had heard footsteps and looked up. It didn’t matter how stealthy the man was trying to be. When he heard the footsteps, Charlie let out a low growl. From there, he started to yowl. At first, Ashley and Sean didn’t hear him, but when Charlie wouldn’t stop making noise, Ashley groggily sat up and blinked in the dark.
“Charlie, what’s up?” she whispered. She didn’t want Sean to wake up. “Are you hungry at this hour?”
The cat’s eyes were open wide and his tail was stiffened and puffed. Ashley tried to reach out to pet him, but he ran out of the bedroom into the living room. She heard him hiss and let out a low growl again. Just then, she heard a low scuff of footsteps at their front door.
Was it the deputy outside coming to ask them something? Why would he do that at this hour? she thought. She looked at the time. It was two-thirty in the morning. She heard a scrape at the door lock. Then she reached over and violently pushed her husband.
“Get up!” she hoarsely whispered. “Someone’s trying to break in!”
Sean’s face was contorted with sleep and shock at the same time. He jumped up and slammed their bedroom door as Ashley dialed Simon’s number. Unfortunately, he didn’t answer. Ashley then heard their front door open and quickly dialed 9-1-1. The dispatcher answered and she screamed into the phone.
The shadowy figure knew he had just minutes now and ran down the hallway and tried to force his way into their bedroom, but Sean was leaning on the door hard and yelling that he had a gun. The shadowy figure tried kicking on the door to bust it down, but Sean kept pounding back and yelling at the top of his lungs. Ashley kept screaming too, hoping to wake all the neighbors.
While that was taking place, police sirens sounded off in the distance. They were getting closer. The shadowy figure knew he had little time to get away now and sprinted out the door to the back of the apartment building. He cursed in bitterness as he ran. He had wanted to kill Ashley and Sean before they had a chance to learn anything else, but he had failed miserably. At least he still had the chance to escape. He had already gotten away with murder years ago, and if he could just run far enough away now, he would go to his grave one day with all the secrets. He started to sprint through the dark neighborhood as quickly as possible.
***
Detective Thompson drove through the streets as fast as he safely could. He was wide awake now and his adrenaline was in high gear. Even though he had been in a dead sleep when Simon called for backup, he had the presence of mind to request canine units when the cop relayed that he had spotted something on the roof of the building. Thompson was on the radio as he sped to Ashley’s and Sean’s place and had been notified by 9-1-1 of Ashley’s call.
“At the subject’s address,” Thompson heard one of the arriving cops say. Then, “Positions to the front and back, go, go, go.” Then “Let them out.”
Thompson arrived just as police and dogs were out of the c
ars and swarming up to the front door of the apartment and heading around back at the same time. The frenzied dogs caught the shadowy figure’s scent from the front door and started barking wildly as they followed the trail. Two policemen had seen Simon prone and bleeding in his car. The policemen called for an ambulance. The noise was unbelievable now and lights went on inside houses up and down the street.
Meanwhile, the shadowy figure pushed himself like he never had before. He was thin and wiry, but he was old now. His athletic stamina and his advanced skills with weapons had served him well in the past, but now it was just about statistics. His age and the high stress of trying to evade capture once again slowed him down. Not to mention, the police dogs were efficient machines; young, strong and fast, with incredible tracking ability. They were also completely focused on catching him.
The shadowy figure made one last effort to scale a fence in a neighbor’s yard. He was desperate to get to his car, which was parked a few blocks away. His hand slipped as he tried to grab the top of the fence and then he heard a snarl and felt teeth sink into his leg. He cried out in pain and slid down on his stomach. The dogs had surrounded him and he lay there with his hands over his head, not moving. Shortly after, three policeman were yelling at him to stay down, and he felt his arms pulled out behind his back. A set of handcuffs were then slapped on his wrists. Strangely enough, he felt a sense of relief. It was over.
Chapter Seventeen
The morning dawn came with brilliant sun. It was very cold, but with the light shining over the landscape, it would be a perfect day to examine the field where the tunnels were. Ashley and Sean were up early and getting dressed when her cell phone rang.
“Morning,” Thompson said. “Did you get any sleep after last night?”
“Not much,” Ashley said. “But we’re okay.”
“So is Simon. Turns out the scumbag who stabbed him missed any vital organs. The deputy is still in the intensive care unit, but he’s stabilized now and the doctors expect him to make a full recovery. Everyone at the station was on pins and needles waiting to hear if he’d make it. Think they would have torn the perp apart if he didn’t. We don’t take kindly to anyone hurting our officers.”
“Thank God,” Ashley said. “Great to hear. No one should be hurting our good men and women in blue.”
“And the rat spilled his guts last night. Name is Elliot Bergman. Got a long story. Maybe it’s not all true, but he implicated everyone else involved. We’ll have lots of info to go on when we examine the tunnel.”
“That’s good that he talked. Helps solve the case faster. Besides, after all this time, what’s to hide anymore? He was probably relieved to get everything out in the open.”
“Yeah, well, he really did it to get a lighter sentence,” Thompson said.
“Really? He must know that at his age, he’s likely to die in prison,” Ashley said.
“True. But he still wants to make sure the surviving players go with him.”
“Aww, how sweet. He wants his friends with him to the bitter end,” Ashley said sarcastically.
“His story doesn’t entirely match what Arabella told us in the hospital, though,” Thompson said. “We need her to come to the tunnel and corroborate what he said and what she knew about what happened that he didn’t mention. Hope she’s up to it like she said she was in the hospital.”
“I believe that she will be,” Ashley said. “And I have a feeling that the story she told us in the hospital exposed a lot of things that Bergman doesn’t want to talk about.”
“Let’s hope we can get the last pieces of the puzzle today and put this case behind us. I’ll be glad when it’s all over.”
“I know you will,” Ashley said softly. “Then you can get married and start to feel optimistic about life again.”
“Hey, I deserve it, don’t I?” he asked.
“Yes, you most certainly do,” she said.
There was quiet momentarily on the line.
Then Thompson cleared his throat. “Ready to roll in fifteen?”
“Yep. Come get us.”
Thompson had called ahead to the hospital asking the doctor for permission to take Arabella with him to examine the tunnels. She had been cleared to go and had gotten dressed. When Thompson, Ashley, and Sean showed up, she was joking about the cold.
“I’m ready to be going with y’all, but I heard its cold out there, and I ‘ain’t got my coat!” Arabella said.
Ashley had already thought about that and brought a spare coat, gloves and hat for the woman. They had to keep her comfortable for the time they would be in the field.
“We would’ve gone back to your house to get your things, but it would’ve taken too much time,” Ashley said.
“That’s fine by me,” Arabella said. She tried on the coat. “It’ll keep me warm, even though it’s not my color.”
Everyone laughed. Ashley loved the woman’s sense of humor, and it broke up the tension of what had been happening the last few days. But she was worried that when they got to the field and saw the tunnel that Arabella might be too upset at all the memories and not be able to verify everything she had told them. Or worse yet, that she would still be too afraid of the people that had tried to harm her, and then change her story. She took Arabella’s hand. Thompson then leaned in and looked Arabella square in the eyes.
“Remember, we got one of the bad guys last night, and we will get the others soon. So there’s no reason to be afraid. Just hang in there and show us everything you told us about. We’re going to protect you,” Thompson said.
“I know you will,” Arabella said. “And I’m ready to settle this once and for all. For me, and for my boy Frank.”
Thompson smiled. “Let’s go.”
***
The drive out to the field was an apprehensive one. Arabella made jokes on the way that made everyone chuckle, but Ashley could tell it was her way of trying to make light of the situation to calm herself down. She’d glance over at the woman’s face from time to time and caught a look of concern in between her attempts at humor. When they drove up the side of the hill to the field and then stopped, Arabella let out a strange sound, then grabbed Ashley’s hand. Her breath came in rapid bursts, almost like an asthma attack.
“Are you okay?” Ashley said in a soothing voice.
“No, I ‘ain’t okay. Bad memories here. But I gotta do this. I made a promise to you like you did to me. Okay, Detective, let’s get over there.”
They all headed into the field along with a group of police and canine units. Some of the cops carried shovels and earth-probing tools in case they needed to dig where Arabella pointed something out. They all walked directly to where the hole that Ashley and Sean had spotted in the drone video. There were still big mounds of dirt where it had been dug up from Thompson’s orders. The dogs circled the ground there, but didn’t start barking. Arabella stood there quietly.
“Yeah, that’s it,” she said. “One of the entrances anyway. Did you find the other ones?”
Thompson pointed to the line of trees on the far left. “We found one over there a little inside the woods.”
“That’s right. But there was another one too, down the hill a bit. That’s what Frank had written about. They must’ve wanted to make sure it was maze-like underground. So they could come in from different places. But if you was in there, it would be hard to get out.”
Ashley stared at her. “To keep people trapped inside.”
Arabella looked at her. “Like I told you in the hospital. They was a vicious bunch. They took old folks for a ‘ride,’ then kept them trapped in there until they signed checks and turned over money, or gave them power to control their wills—stuff like that. Think they brought people from other little towns around here too.”
Ashley looked at Thompson, then back at Arabella. “And I bet most of them were without a big family to check up on them and they got scared, sometimes sitting down underground for days in the dark. Those that had family members, they�
�d probably threaten to hurt them. When they’d finally let them go, they were so scared and happy to be out of there and back home, they didn’t want to cause trouble.”
Thompson thought it over. “Maybe it wasn’t just old folks. Maybe it was people who had fallen out with society, or were living off the grid, people who a lot of people wouldn’t miss.”
“And Frank found out about it,” Ashley said.
“Yes, he did. I didn’t know he had found out until years after he died. I read it in that journal he left fo’ me so if his name came up connected to it, I would know what had been goin’ on. Every time he saw something suspicious over the years, he must’ve wrote it down. First thing he wrote was that he had been squirrel hunting up here one day and saw them taking a woman underground. Said she look disoriented, like a rag doll. He said he didn’t think about it when he was a kid, but when he got older, he realized they must’ve give her drugs. Probably to keep them quiet down there.”
“That makes sense,” Thompson said. “And it would mess with their heads.”
“And to keep them from even beginning to guess where they had been, so they could never lead anyone here even if they did talk,” Ashley said.
Arabella stared at Ashley and Thompson. “I told you it was crazy stuff.”
“There was no internet back then, no social media, no way of spreading this all over. Much easier to keep all these secrets,” Ashley said
“And before DNA testing, people would disappear and the cases would go cold,” Thompson said.
Arabella sucked in her breath. “Frank was out of sight, in the woods but close to that opening you found over there. He heard them talking too. Discussing how much money they had gotten from this person or that one. And what they were gonna do with it. And where they would go. He also heard them say they would get rid of anyone who told, stuff like that.”
Ashley Crane Cozy Mystery Boxed Set Page 84