by Alex Kava
“Unfortunately, I have the next best thing,” Maggie said. “His accomplice.”
“Go get him,” Alonzo told her.
Chapter 81
Maggie was expecting to meet with Chief Deputy Glenn, so she was surprised to find Sheriff Norwich waiting for her on the other side of the security check.
“Hello, Agent O’Dell.”
“Sheriff, how are you?”
“Tired of lying around.”
Maggie must have looked concerned because Norwich added, “The rumor of my demise has been greatly exaggerated.” She allowed herself a small laugh. “Much to the consternation of some people around here.”
Maggie suspected she meant Chief Deputy Glenn. The man seemed to enjoy the regular press briefings he’d been holding since the night of the fire. With two of her deputies dead, Maggie could understand why the sheriff might feel the need to get back to work.
She had to admit, the sheriff looked good. She was dressed in civilian clothes: khakis, canvas deck shoes and a short-sleeved polo shirt. Her pace was a bit slower than normal as she walked beside Maggie, gesturing which way to go as they walked.
“There’s a group of us getting together at Walter’s Canteen on the beach later. Maybe if you’re up to it, you could join us.”
“Thanks. I’d like that.”
They walked a bit more then Norwich said, “I have to tell you, I’m surprised he agreed to talk to you. One of our best guys tried to get him to open up, and he just stared at him. Seems he remembers you from the forest.”
“Is his attorney here?”
“A public defender’s been assigned, but he didn’t want him here.”
“You have that on tape?” Maggie asked.
“Audio and video. And it’s all set up for you.”
Maggie checked her phone one last time before she shut it off. She had talked to Ganza earlier, and he had given her the bombshell she was hoping to use on Ernest Udall Sutton.
He was already sitting in the room, chained and handcuffed to the chair. Maggie came in and took the seat across the table from him. The orange jumpsuit was a size too big, making him look thin and gangly. One glance at his lean, muscled forearms reminded her this was the man who had taken down Ryder and had bludgeoned John Lockett. Still, she was surprised at how young he looked. Until his dark, dead eyes met hers.
“I’m Agent Maggie O’Dell.” She kept the introduction friendly. He’d obviously seen her as someone he wasn’t intimidated by. She’d use that to her advantage. “What would you like me to call you?”
“Udie.”
“Okay. You know you’re in a whole lot of trouble, Udie.”
“But I didn’t kill anybody. I just cleaned up after Doc.”
“The deputies in the forest?”
“Yeah, I mean Doc just went crazy. He was worried about all of you finding his bodies.”
She pulled out a cell phone, and he watched her set it on the table close to her. She gave him a few seconds to see if he’d notice the case and recognize it as the one Jason had taken from him when he patted him down to make sure he wasn’t armed. The phone was one piece of evidence Maggie and the FBI were processing.
She glanced at it and said, “John Lockett’s phone.”
He gave it only a glance. His eyes continued to examine hers.
“You’re right,” she told him. “There are text messages from Lockett and Dr. Winslow setting up to meet at the boat launch. Doc even gives him detailed directions.”
“Yup, that’s right.” Now his head bobbed, nodding in agreement.
“But there are also text messages after we found Lockett’s body. I suspect those are from you and Doc. I mean since you had his phone.”
She paused, watching as his eyes darted back and forth. He was trying to remember what he might have said.
“Then you saw all the instructions he was constantly giving me.”
It was a good answer, Maggie had to admit.
“How long have you worked for him? I mean, your cleaning service.”
“Quite a while.”
“Your mother started the business, right? So she probably worked with Doc, too?”
“Yeah.” He was trying to rub his neck and shoulder together since his hands were handcuffed and connected to a chain that ran to the shackles on his feet. She knew he was being treated for a nasty rash.
“How long have you known that Doc was your father?”
The surprise flickered across his face as his eyes blinked several times.
She didn’t wait for an answer. She wanted him to realize she knew more than he could imagine. “Those ancestry companies,” she told him, “when you submit your DNA for the profile, you allow law enforcement access, too.”
“Just means he had even more of a hold over me,” Udie said.
“And your mother?”
“What about her? Why do you keep bringing her up?”
“I’m just trying to understand your relationship with Doc. If your mother worked with him...I mean, she cleaned for him at Recovery Gardens and probably whatever businesses he had before that.”
She recognized the anger setting his mouth in a straight line.
“And yet, she never told you he was your father?” She kept her voice sympathetic. “You obviously didn’t know or you wouldn’t have gone to the ancestry company.”
“She was a wicked woman.”
“I’m sure she must have loved you. Maybe she was trying to protect you.”
“Protect me?” He let out a laugh that sounded like a squawk. “She expected me to work my fingers to the bone exactly the way she did. All she did was nag and criticize. I’m glad she’s dead.”
He didn’t even notice his slip until Maggie asked, “How do you know she’s dead?”
He slouched down to meet his cuffed hands, so he could scratch his face and wipe his mouth as his eyes analyzed hers.
Then he said, “I haven’t heard from her since she left. I figure she’s dead.”
Maggie kept her expression steady, but she was impressed at how calculating this young man was. He was a scrappy survivor and a very good liar.
“We found her,” Maggie said and watched his eyes go wide before he had a chance to control them. It wasn’t surprise or shock. It was panic. The kind you’d expect to see from an animal when it realizes it’s cornered.
“Her body was in the forest,” she continued, trying not to be distracted by the sudden tapping of his left foot. Maybe he knew he wasn’t just cornered but trapped. “We were able to match her DNA with the one you submitted to find your father.”
At the mention of his father, he lit up like he had found a lifeline.
“It was Doc,” he finally said with the same bobbing nod.
“And you didn’t notice that she was lying out there in the grass?”
“How could I without her head? I just thought it was one of the bodies he put out there before we partnered up.”
“So you didn’t know anything about her murder?”
“Nope.” He was back to feeling in control. The foot had even stopped.
“Udie, we know you killed her. We found her head. In the bucket.” Before he attempted another cleanup excuse, she added, “Your fingerprints are still on the bucket. On the outside and the inside.”
The foot started tapping again. His shoulder bunched up to his neck to rub at the rash. But his eyes stayed on Maggie’s.
“She was a wicked woman.”
Chapter 82
Walter’s Canteen
Pensacola Beach, Florida
Creed watched Hannah and Walter at the bar, laughing and interrupting the young bartender with their stories. The guy was trying to mix drinks for the rest of them. It reminded Creed of the very first time he met Hannah. She was behind that very same bar. When Creed started a brawl and tried to take on more men than he could handle, Hannah came to his rescue. And she’d been coming to his rescue ever since.
Jason and Brodie were pulling tables to
gether while Benny and Colfax seemed to be directing them. Nobody would let Creed do anything. They were still babying him just because he’d broken a couple of ribs. Turns out, having a bulletproof vest on and getting shot from a close proximity could still cause injury. Tobogganing through the forest, wrapped in a tarp, probably contributed to the muscle aches. That night was still a bit fuzzy in his mind. But the drugs seemed to be out of his system, thanks to Brodie’s quick thinking.
He still couldn’t believe she had accomplished what she did that night. Whenever anyone attempted to give her credit or praise, she was quick to say she couldn’t have done it without Scout and Grace. He always knew his dogs rescued him emotionally and mentally on a regular basis. He never thought they’d actually come to his rescue.
Creed wasn’t sure how Jason and Hannah had managed to convince Brodie to come with them. Hannah was full of surprises. Somehow, she had bargained with Walter to close down his place on the busiest day of the week just for their celebration. She knew Brodie might not be ready for a crowd beyond the team that had been in the forest.
At first, he noticed Brodie’s head constantly swiveling to look out the windows. He was concerned she might be uncomfortable with the crowds out on the beach. She caught him watching and said, “It’s more beautiful than I remember.”
He figured Jason, Colfax and Benny needed this distraction. Their friend, Eric Hudson’s death was being investigated as one of Doc’s murders. Creed could tell the three of them were feeling bad they hadn’t suspected a thing. As a consequence the men were doting on Eric’s widow and little boy. Jason had told Creed, that more than ever, he wanted to get Sarge ready for Luke.
But Creed knew the real antidote for Jason had just walked in the door. Taylor Donahey turned everyone’s head. Creed started to smile at the woman’s effect until he saw Brodie’s face.
Maggie and Vickie came in minutes behind her, and his sister immediately smiled again at the presence of the medical examiner. He was pleased to see Sheriff Norwich with them.
As the others greeted each other, got drinks or filled plates from the generous buffet Hannah had ordered up, Maggie sat down next to him. He was at the small table off to the side where he had been happy to sit and observe.
“Why are you here all alone in the corner?” she asked, pulling her chair close to him.
“They wouldn’t let me help.”
“You hate when they do that, don’t you?”
“I do.”
He could feel her watching him.
“Sheriff Norwich looks good,” he said.
“I know, and she had a heart attack. You just have a couple of bruised ribs.”
He allowed a hitch of a smile.
She pulled her chair closer and looped her arm through his. He almost asked how things went at the jail, but he didn’t want to ruin his or her good mood. Instead he said, “Taylor looks happy.”
Maggie had told him she was going to talk to William’s grandparents. Taylor had helped Maggie by forcing a confession from Doc, at the expense of losing what she believed was her only hope of getting back into her son’s life.
“There’s a lot that needs to be repaired,” she told him. “But they now realize Doc hadn’t been honest with them. They didn’t even know Taylor was in Pensacola.”
Creed tilted back to get a better look at Brodie. She was with Vickie and Norwich, but he saw her glancing at Jason and Taylor.
Maggie leaned in and quietly said, “Unfortunately, you can’t protect her heart.”
She noticed it, too.
“I know you still see her as that eleven-year-old little girl, but the rest of us see a smart, very capable, young woman.”
He knew she was right. He remembered how Brodie had steered the boat through the narrow passages in the dark with only his incoherent guidance.
“You asked me to check on something else,” Maggie said. “It looks like John Lockett was a loner. Alonzo hasn’t found any family or close friends for Hank. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I think he’s found someone he trusts. Someone who might need him as much as he’s going to need her.” He pointed with a tilt of his head to Brodie.
“Really?”
They watched quietly for a while. Soon everyone would be seated, and they’d be forced to join. But Creed was enjoying this little bit of time alone together.
“Speaking of trust,” Maggie said, and he almost winced. He didn’t want to talk about what was or wasn’t happening with them.
“I’ve been a real pain in the ass this whole week,” she said, surprising him. “Maybe I can make it up to you.”
She slid something along the small tabletop until it rested right in front of him. With only a glance, he recognized it was a hotel keycard.
“I’m in 620,” she said in a low voice. “I promise I’ll be gentle.”
Author's Note
Warning! Spoiler Alert!
I started a fire in Blackwater River State Forest.
And wouldn’t you know it, a month later a raging wildfire raced out of control just miles south of the forest. In early May, the Five Mile Swamp Fire raged for a week with winds and low humidity fueling it. Over 2200 acres and more than a dozen homes were destroyed. Over 1100 residents were evacuated. It came within a half mile of my Florida home. It was frightening enough for me to readjust the last chapters of my story.
Too many times my stories have ended up coming true. In my novel, Damaged, published in 2010, I dealt with the underground cadaver business. Early in Hidden Creed Maggie refers to Joe Black. He was one of my favorite characters, a body broker who provided human body parts for medical doctors to practice surgical procedures.
Fast forward to August 2012. A Pensacola man buys the contents of a storage unit (Unit B12) at auction for $900 then finds the grisly remains of human brains, hearts and lungs stashed in plastic food containers and soda cups.
It didn’t take long for readers and friends to start sending me the articles. Dr. Michael Berkland was never charged (as far as I can find) with anything other than misdemeanors. It was believed that as a private pathologist, he performed autopsies at funeral homes for families, some asking for second opinions in the deaths of loved ones. The families didn’t realize Berkland kept a few parts. Police found remains belonging to more than 100 people.
Even I can’t make this stuff up. It made perfect fodder for this book.
Onto the more serious topic of opioid addiction. I can’t begin to do justice to this problem, but because it affects the lives of so many of our veterans, I thought it deserved some attention. Each day 128 people die from an opioid overdose. That’s around 70,000 people every year. There are some wonderful recovery centers, however, Recovery Gardens is not one of them. It is fictional.
Speaking of real places, most of you already know that I like to include actual locales in my books. I’ve used Blackwater River State Park and Forest before. The case Maggie refers to where the killer tricked her and Tully into the forest only to hunt her down, takes place in the novel, Stranded. It’s also the first time she meets Ryder and Grace. Breaking Creed is technically the first book of the Creed series, but I always tell readers if they’re just starting the series, they really should begin with Stranded.
Margaritaville Beach Hotel and Peg Leg Pete’s are real places on Pensacola Beach. I recommend the grouper sandwich at Peg Leg Pete’s. But you won’t find Walter’s Canteen or the marina. The Segway House is also a figment of my imagination.
My apologies to the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office. I took all kinds of liberties with law enforcement procedures, processes and jurisdiction. I did the same with Florida District 1’s medical examiner.
Although Vickie Kammerer is a real person, she is not a medical examiner. Vickie and her dog, Sugar, won my “Get Caught Reading Alex Kava” contest last year. Her prize was for her and her dog to appear as characters in the next Ryder Creed novel. I met Vickie years ago at one of my first book signings, and it feels like a
reunion every time we see each other. But I have to admit I had fun learning new things about her. Only those of you who know her will recognize what’s true and what came from my imagination.
That is the best part of my job—taking real things, places and people then blending them with fiction, so that my readers can’t tell what is real and what is fiction. Always keep in mind that truth is much stranger than fiction.
With each new Ryder Creed novel I try to include new and different things I’ve learned about scent dogs. They are truly amazing. You can probably tell the dogs are my favorite characters. In writing a series, I’ve learned that all of the characters continue to show me new insights into themselves and their relationships. Some of those insights surprise even me.
I appreciate that you have so generously welcomed these characters into your reading life. And I want you to know I’m already researching and plotting out Fallen Creed.
The biggest compliment a reader can give an author is to tell a friend. If you’ve enjoyed this book, please share it with a book lover. And thank you for reading my books.
Acknowledgments
I want to thank all my friends who put up with my long absences and help keep me grounded. Thanks to Sharon Car, Marlene Haney, Sharon Kator, Amee Rief, Maricela and Jose Barajas, Martin and Patti Bremmer, Pat Heng, Doug and Linda Buck, Dan Macke, Erica Spindler, Dr. Elvira Rios, Luann Causey, and Christy Cotton.
Special Thanks to:
My publishing team: Deb Carlin, Linda and Doug Buck, Maricela Barajas, and Joshua Mackey.
Dr. Enita Larson of Tender Care Animal Hospital in Gretna, Nebraska, for her veterinary expertise in helping me figure out where to shoot a dog and ensure he survives. And extra thanks to her and David Applegate for working out what caliber of gun and bullet would keep us from doing the least amount of damage to Hank. Enita has also generously allowed me to use a combination of her children’s names for the character, Dr. Avelyn Parker.
Judge Leigh Ann Retelsdorf and her amazing forensic contacts patiently spent an entire evening talking to me about maggots. Thank you Christine Gabig, MSFS, forensic chemist and Dr. Tim Huntington,PhD, forensic entomologist. For many years, Leigh Ann has been my reliable go-to-person for information, advice and working through forensic puzzles. However, keep in mind, I still wander from the facts, because I am a storyteller. So any mistakes in processes or procedures are mine, and mine alone.