NIGHT MOVES: The Stroll Murders

by Gar Mallinson

  Sally turned as if the rumble of the exhaust had finally reached her. She smiled and waved at the truck, left Sabina on the sidewalk and sauntered toward the street. A window went down, and a head came out. She stood there, hip shot, and watched them pull up and stop.

  “You coming down from there? Jesus that thing’s big. It just for show or you guys the same way?”

  “You wanna see, you come look for yourself, babe.”

  He swung the big door open, slid out, and put one foot on the chrome running board as the truck inched slowly past Sally, then stopped again. He waved her over and held out his hand. Sally shook her head.

  “We’re a pair, the two of us.” She nodded toward Sabina. “We come together, no pun intended.”

  The young guy looked at her blankly.

  “You know, you gotta take us both. Jesus, what I said, it’s a pun, means two things at once. You get it?”

  He shook his head. “You get in the back with me and explain it. She can sit in the front and play with my friend.”

  He stepped down, turned, and pulled open the second door, revealing the back seat. It was one of those double cab deals, the running board travelling all the way back to the truck bed. His height was deceptive. He was shorter than Sally by a few inches.

  “You sure you’re hung like that thing? You’re not very tall, are you?”

  “Big surprise in a small package, babe, you’ll see. No question what you got. Come on, get in.”

  Sabina sauntered up and joined Sally.

  A car turned off Milton and came toward them. Suddenly a light bar began flashing, and the cruiser pulled in behind the truck.

  Sabina and Sally ran down the street toward Milton, teetering on their heels, bare legs flashing. Two blond hookers making for the alley.

  The cops ignored them. One came around to the front of the driver’s side. His partner came up the other side by the short guy. By the time Sabina and Sally had reached the dark entrance to the alley, the cops were waving the truck off. They walked back to the cruiser, killed the lights, u-turned, and cruised slowly past the two girls. The one in the passenger seat gave them a thumbs-up.

  Sabina huffed. “That got us out of a bit of a pickle. They’ve really got us covered.”

  “Nobody’s taking any chances now, not after those two drunks. We can keep going or call it a night. What do you think?”

  Sabina thought about it for a moment, then shook her head.

  “Let’s do one more round, see if anybody’s left. As long as some of the others are working, let’s stick around. For their sake as much as ours. If we leave, the cops leave. Those sickos could be waiting for the last one. Watch the cover disperse, then grab one when the street’s empty.”

  Sally agreed. “Let’s keep going until we’re the last. Alan and Spence’ve still got the unmarkeds splattered around. We might get them yet.”

  The stroll was still alive coming on two o’clock. It wasn’t a steady flow like earlier in the evening, but a kind of trickle, coming in little bursts as the lights let the cars through. By the time they reached Milton, they could see why.

  There were four or five girls a block down on the west side between Selby and Prideaux. Nothing was happening on the east side.

  Sally crossed when the light changed with Sabina trailing behind. She wasn’t wasting time getting down there. Sabina had to trot to keep up. “Why the rush, Sally? You trying to outrun me?”

  “I got no idea who‘s down there. Those girls weren’t around when we came up, so let’s see what they’re up to.”

  A block later, it became clear. One of the girls was yelling at another, and the rest were standing around watching. The few cars coming slowly up the street were stopping briefly before moving on. That attracted others, so as the newcomers pulled up behind, the lead cars were forced up to the corner where they were turning for a repeat.

  The girls were more than aware of the cars. Skirts were getting hiked, legs on show, tops undone another button. A couple of girls had edged to the side of the road and were actively engaging the slow cars. The remaining girls were now trying to get the two to stop fighting. It was late, and this was a bonus they didn’t want to pass up. The fight ended abruptly. They all wandered to the roadside now.

  First one, then another, got a customer and left. As Sabina and Sally watched, one of the last two got a customer. The remaining girl kept trying, but the cars passed her by. When she turned, the reason became obvious: she was so high, she staggered. Her ravaged face and emaciation were obvious to even the least fussy late johns.

  That left Sally and Sabina. In comparison, they were the crème de la crème. A sedan and a pickup pulled over. Sally and Sabina linked arms and sauntered over. Once it became obvious that they were together, both vehicles left. Others slowed, but nobody bit.

  In less than half an hour, it was over. Nothing came up the hill.

  Sally and Sabina walked the beat one last time. Then they walked up Milton to the pass-through, a small bit of grass and shrubs with a walkway that took them to Hecate, Sally’s street. Three houses up on their side of the road sat an old pickup, motor rumbling quietly, exhaust a dirty cloud of white. As they neared Sally’s walkway, it moved toward them and the passenger window went down.

  “You girls working tonight?”

  Sally shook her head. “We’re done for the night, sweetie, Sorry. Try over on Victoria, there’s still some girls over there.”

  “Aw, come on, we’re here now, there’s two of us and two of you. We’re flush, so whatever you want, we got it covered.”

  While that exchange was going on, the driver had opened his door and slipped out. He was dressed in black and he was fast. Sabina didn’t see him until he was in front of the truck’s grill. He made a lunge for her, grabbed her around the waist, and Tasered her before she could scream to warn Sally.

  But Sally heard the buzz of the Taser and turned in time to see Sabina go down. Before she could react, the young guy leaning out the window had opened his door, jumped out and grabbed her with one hand around her waist and the other over her mouth.

  She fought, kicking her legs. As she did, she slipped her hand into her bag and hit one on the cell. She kicked out at the driver as he turned toward her. Her legs were long and the adrenaline surge gave her an almost superhuman power. She nailed one attacker in the crotch, and as he went down, the Taser bounced across the sidewalk. She elbowed the younger guy so hard, he let her go. That was the moment she needed.

  She already had her hand on the mace, and as she pulled it out, she hit the nozzle. The spray ripped up the side of the young guy, across his neck, hit his mouth and got both eyes. He screamed and turned away.

  Sally grabbed Sabina under the arms and began dragging her toward the house. She was choking from the back-spray, but she had the girl halfway down the walk before the other guy staggered to his feet and lurched after her. She screamed. He kept coming.

  Sally dropped Sabina and grabbed the mace can again, but the guy was too fast and knocked it aside. He grabbed the tall girl and slapped a hand over her mouth. Sally fought, but this time he stayed inside her flailing legs and out of reach of her elbows and nails. And he’d found the Taser.

  The jolt hit Sally hard, and she dropped in spasms to the sidewalk.

  He was scooping Sally up and making for the truck when two cars came screeching up Hecate. He heard them before he saw them. He also heard the sirens starting up and coming from every direction.

  He dropped Sally and ran to the sidewalk. He picked up the younger guy, shoved him into the idling truck, and dove in himself. He hit the gas, took out a bush on the pass-through, and careened across Milton into the vacant lot toward the train tracks. With no lights, he was invisible except for the roar of the engine.

  Harry was the first to arrive, slamming the car onto the grass as he hit the brakes. Will was right behind him, tearing great furrows out of the skimpy lawn. Both men ran up the narrow walk along the side of the house. Both girl
s were on the ground unconscious.

  Harry cradled Sabina in his arms, talking softly to her. Will called for an ambulance and knelt beside Sally, unsure what had happened.

  By the time they had raised the girls to sitting positions, both Hecate and Milton were full of cops. There were so many light bars flashing, it was like a carnival. Residents who normally would have stayed inside and ignored everything, lined the sidewalks. It was chaos.

  After the girls were loaded into the ambulances and taken away, Alan and Spence and Harry and Will gathered in front of the house. Once they got the description, the cruisers peeled off to search for the truck. Alan sent the unmarkeds out to the periphery, up around the edges of town. They had the place boxed, he said, they’d get them before they hit the expressway.

  Alan looked at Harry. “How the hell did we miss them? We covered everything from the damn park to the stroll. We had cars all over the damn place.”

  Harry was shaking with fury and fear. “We didn’t spot them because they weren’t driving. They did what we did. They holed up in someone’s driveway or in a lot somewhere and waited. When things tapered off, they drove into the area and parked up here. We were concentrating on moving traffic on the stroll while they sat there and waited.”

  “So where’d they go?” Will looked at the others. “We should have them by now. The whole town’s blocked, they can’t get out.”

  Alan shook his head. “We’ve got search teams on all the roads out of town. We’ve got a search going on in town, every alley, every hidey hole, every parked vehicle. Those bastards are toast.”

  But Spence was quiet and didn’t sound confident. “We should’ve had this place covered, why the hell didn’t we?”

  “We did, but the unmarked from here got called in with that first pair in the alley, and after that, got reassigned to Victoria to add coverage on the girls. The damned truck must have set up then.” Alan shook his head. “They were ahead of us, and they got lucky. We’ll get ’em.”

  By four in the morning, they hadn’t gotten them. Harry and Will were at the hospital, where Sally and Sabina were recovering.

  Rory appeared a little later with the news that the truck was gone. “One of my guys saw tire impressions on the side of the old tracks south of on Farquhar. They stayed off the streets and on the tracks until they were outta town. My guys are still looking at where the truck left the tracks.”

  Sally and Sabina had recovered sufficiently, mostly from shock and some minor bruising, and desperately wanted to go home. It was clear they’d both been Tasered. Sally had a slight burn mark but nothing debilitating. Sabina’s looked worse. The emerge doc haggled with them, but Alan stepped in and said he needed them for further investigative work.

  By five, the six of them were crammed into a booth at an all-night coffee shop on Nicol. They were throwing out possibilities, but without much hope.

  Rory’s guys had found where the truck had taken a run down the bank to a secondary road near River Road. “Looks like they coulda gone south toward Cowichan, but the cops think probably north toward Port Alberni. Lotsa back roads to get lost on.”

  Spence glared at everybody. “We’ve got an all-points out on the truck, but the description sucks. Still, every fuckin’ old pickup’s gonna get stopped. You two weren’t much help either. I know, I know, the Taser sort of messed with your heads and it was dark, but what I’m sayin’ is we got bugger all to give our guys. No plates, no firm description of either the truck or the two men.

  “There’s no way of knowin’ if they’re in the same vehicle. If they ditched the truck, we’ll find it eventually, but if they had another vehicle stashed somewhere, then they’re long gone. One thing’s for sure, they won’t be back here. We should get back. We’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”

  Alan levered himself up from the table, and the two of them, looking despondent, left the restaurant.

  Harry and Sabina asked Sally to come home with them, and Will grabbed his old Subaru.

  XXVII

  Nobody slept, not Sabina, not Harry, not Sally. They were all up by eight, unwashed and depressed, drinking more coffee in the sunny kitchen.

  Harry sighed, got off his chair, and began pulling out eggs and bacon. The girls didn’t move.

  He made omelettes, broiled bacon, and made toast. No one spoke.

  Finally, Sabina got up and set the table. Sally sat, her head propped up on one hand. She watched the proceedings.

  Harry didn’t ask, he just filled plates and set them on the table. They all picked at the food until they realized they were hungry. Then they dug in.

  “I wonder if we’ll still be in business tomorrow,” Harry said. “That mess last night might get our license pulled.”

  He got up to get more coffee.

  “Jesus, H, you think that’d really happen? I mean, we didn’t do anything we shouldn’t have, did we?” Sabina shook her head when Harry offered the pot.

  “We didn’t, but Alan and Spence sure did, and we were part of it. We can all stick to the story, but who the hell knows? Depends how the brass react, I guess.”

  Harry poured for himself and glanced at Sally. She nodded. “I don’t see how we can be held responsible for any of it. We’re the victims, at least Sabina and I are. And you, Harry, you’re the detective lead on Cat’s case, and that’s still wide open. So how can we be blamed? And me? I was just going home and got Tasered along with my friend.”

  Harry sighed again.

  “Let’s hope you’re right and that Alan and Spence don’t get turfed over this fiasco. What a fuck-up. We had ‘em. We were right there!”

  “We gotta start over, and we need Sally too, so how do you want to handle that?”

  “Assuming we don’t get nailed for anything and still have an office, we’ll make Sally an associate of sorts. See how that goes. If you want to, that is.” Harry raised his brows at Sally.

  “I get to be who I am, do what I do, and this gets added? Sounds good to me.” Sally raised her cup in a toast.

  “Good on ya, H. We’re a team to the end.” Sabina propped her head on her hand. “What the hell do we do now?”

  ◆◆◆

  In the bush in the far north of the island, west of Nimpkish Lake and way south of Port McNeil along a stretch of the Kilpala River, the few whites and Natives who fished the river and camped along the banks began to find the bodies of small animals in varying stages of decomposition. The location was strange, always in tiny cleared spots on the forest floor in little circles of small stones taken either from the river’s edge or from the surrounding area. These spots weren’t manufactured, and nothing had been disturbed, but the little circles of stone were too unusual. And there were quite a number of them.

  That’s what started the rumours among the men about strange sites in the bush and odd fleeting glances of something moving, as if the air had somehow taken on substance, maybe some kind of strange, oddly coloured creature that moved like nothing they had ever seen appearing and disappearing like a phantom. The rumours grew as the days passed and spooked the fishermen, who then began to see even more strange things.

  Then it all stopped. Not the sites, they were still there to disturb the men, but the sightings of this strange creature. Then the sites themselves grew old and slowly disintegrated, and the rumours dissipated like mist from the river until all that was left were the odd stories around the campfires that no one really believed.

  On the mainland sometime later, about a couple of hundred kilometers inland from Powell River, an old trapper found something similar as he made his rounds. Only this time it wasn’t animal.

  Thank You For Reading

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  George

  George is a coming-of-age story about a young boy who gets up at first light each morning to watch his grandfather walk into the woods with an axe.

  One morning, his chores raking pens and gathering eggs on the dairy farm completed, curiosity leads him through the fields in search of George.

  Two shouting voices draw him to the meadow’s edge.

  The boy sees the axe’s gleaming arc of steel and hears the smack as it hits. He knows that sound from the slaughter of chickens on the old wood block, the meaty smack of the hatchet.

  The horror of that sound pushes him back under the tall humps of beaver grass, down into the green half-light of the meadow’s dusty floor to lie panting in the growing heat of the day.

  Many years later, the boy, now grown, returns home from college. As he stands in the dirt driveway of the old farm in the intense heat of a late summer day, memories erupt, flashbacks of that glistening steel axe head as it arcs through the hot summer air. Shaken, he walks the dusty driveway toward the house and its secrets.

  Acknowledgements

  Thanks go to Wanda and Robert Cannon for the opportunity to do research in Vancouver. Without their help, neither novel would have been written. Thanks also to David Tayler for suggesting the title and to Karl Rainer for editing and suggestions for the plot, along with Debra Bodner and Figaro for proofing and editing. You all know where the wine is kept.