The Silver Lake Murder

by Gregg Matthews

  “No bench-warming tonight, Billy,” Blake says.

  “Right,” Billy says, taking a couple of more swings with the bat.

  He and Billy, creep quietly down the alley. Blake walks into the back door of the Lakeview Lounge. He looks back into the alley and sees Billy taking a couple of more practice swings. He thinks about how he is going to trick Luke into coming down thestairs. He looks around the empty bar area.

  He is surprised at how different the bar looks with no one in it. He walks around the bar, unplugging and turning off every neon light he can find. The bar is dark, and he is in position at the bottom of the stairs with a baseball bat, gripping it tightly. He takes a couple of practice swings too. He knows Billy is ten feet behind him on the other side of the back door, in the alley.

  A small beam of light is coming in through the open back-door. Moisture is collecting on his forehead and upper lip. He is resting on one knee. His T-shirt is soaked with sweat. He puts the baseball bat down and wipes the palms of his hands on his jeans, hoping this will help his grip. He takes a baseball from his right front pocket. He throws the baseball as hard as he can, towards the mirror behind the bar. The mirror is thickly settled with top-shelf bottles of hard liquor.

  One of the waitresses told him the top-shelf liquor bottles are for show; the liquor has been gone from the bottles for years. Colored water is used to replace the liquor. The waitresses are told to push the Jackal products to the customers. There is a stack of glasses in front of the mirror. The baseball he threw makes contact with the mirror, bottles, and glasses. Broken glass screams out into the empty night.

  “What’s going on down there?” Luke shouts from up in The Devil’s Den.

  Listening to the footsteps, he estimates Luke is halfway down the stairs. He waits a little longer and until Luke is at the bottom of the stairs. He winds up as hard as he can and takes a swing, guessing where Luke’s left knee is. The meat of the baseball bat makes solid contact with Luke’s left knee. Luke lets out a moan and has no idea what is going on. He falls to the floor in the dark.

  Standing over Luke, he swings the baseball bat down as hard as he can, not sure what part of his body he is hitting. Luke moans every time the bat makes contact with his flesh and bone. He grabs Luke by the neck and drags him towards the back door.

  “Who are you?” Luke cries out.

  “Shut up,” Blake says.

  Picking Luke up by the scruff of the neck and the seat of his pants, he throws him through the back door into the dusty alley. He sees Billy swinging the baseball bat down as hard as he can. The scuffling of their feet and Luke fighting for his life on the ground causes the dirt to rise into a cloud. He can barely see what is going on in the cloud of dust. He jumps in and is swinging the baseball bat down hard, making contact with more flesh and bone.

  The spotlight is shining down the alley in the back of the building. He can see the Slugger label on Billy’s bat rising above the cloud of dust; the baseball bat is swung down hard and disappears into the cloud of dust. The two swinging baseball bats hitting flesh and bone cause Luke to moan and cry out in the night.

  The two baseball bats take a break from swinging down into the flesh and bone of Luke. Billy and Blake are both coughing and winded from swinging the baseball bats. He and Billy have both been breathing in an abnormal amount of dust from the alley. He looks into the cloud of dust and sees a stream of light shining through the cloud enough for him to see Billy’s face show a deranged look in his eyes. He wonders if he pushed Billy too far. Flashes of red brake lights are coming down the alley. Lester stops the car right in front of them and pops the trunk open.

  “Billy, hand me the tape.”

  “Here, Blake,” Billy says, retrieving the tape from the trunk.

  Placing a piece of tape over Luke’s mouth, Blake rolls Luke over on his stomach and puts one knee into his back. Luke lets out a painful moan. He tapes Luke’s two hands together in front of his body. He tapes both of Luke’s ankles together. He motions for Billy to take a break and catch his breath. He sees Billy looking at him with a frightened look in his eyes. He waves his hand towards Billy, stopping him from saying anything.

  “It’s okay, Billy, we weren’t going to Heaven anyway,” Blake says, smiling.

  “I know, Blake,” Billy says, smiling back at him.

  Motioning for Billy to take an end. He and Billy shove Luke awkwardly on his back face up into the trunk of the car. Luke moans. There is an orange backpack full of drugs right next to Luke’s head. He points to the tape, baseball bats, scattered in the alley, and Billy gathers them up, throwing them into the trunk of the car.

  “Stay with me, Billy. Everything is going to be all right.”

  “Okay, Blake,” Billy says, gasping for air.

  “We have to meet Kevin at Cripple Cove.”

  “Okay, Blake.”

  He and Billy get in the back seat, and Lester quietly applies pressure to the gas pedal easing them out from behind the building. Turning his head, looking out the rear window, he can see the large cloud of dust peeking out from behind the building.

  CHAPTER 19

  The car glides down the dirt road deeper into the woods and deeper into the night. Looking down at his smartphone Blake reads 12:00 a.m. Perfect.

  The deep woods are on the left, and the lake water is on the right. The car eases its way down the dirt roads through the backwoods quietly.

  “Keep driving, Lester,” Blake shouts from the backseat.

  “Yes, Blake.”

  “You okay, Billy?” Blake says, looking at Billy, who is sitting next to him.

  “I’m okay,” Billy says with his whole body shaking.

  The muffled thudding and moaning sounds coming from the trunk makes them all nervous. Lester makes eye contact with Blake in the rearview mirror.

  “Forward,” Blake shouts, pointing straight ahead.

  He and Billy are both covered in dirt, mixed with sweat. Reaching for a towel in the backseat, he wipes his face. He takes a minute to pull himself together.

  “Cripple Cove, right Lester?”

  “Yes, Blake, Cripple Cove.”

  The large pine trees hang over the road provide the car with lots of cover.

  “OK, Lester, we are close.”

  “Yes, Blake.”

  The car slows down to a crawl and slowly drives down Backside Lane. Looking straight ahead, there is more dirt road with large overhanging tree branches and the dark of night. The thump and muffled moan from the trunk cause all three of them to make eye contact.

  “Stop the car, Lester.”

  “OK, Blake.”

  The car comes to a stop, and again they all make eye contact hearing the sounds coming from the trunk.

  “One minute,” Blake says.

  Quickly exiting the car, he waves for Lester to press the release button to open the trunk. He can see Lester reaching down, and the trunk pops open. Luke is beaten, bloodied with a frightened look in his eyes. Removing the gray duct tape from his mouth, the moans turn into a man begging for his life.

  “Please don’t kill me. I have money, lots of money,” Luke says.

  I think the money is under the doghouse in the Starlight Trailer Park. Maybe this is a good opportunity to confirm.

  Looking around the trunk, he can see two baseball bats, several rolls of tape.

  “Talk!” Blake shouts.

  “Under the doghouse. Starlight Trailer Park,” Luke cries out.

  “Thanks!”

  “Please don’t kill me,” Luke cries out as Blake puts tape over his mouth again.

  Reaching for the baseball bat, he takes a minute and thinks about what Luke did to Cindy Flynn. He steps back from the trunk and takes a couple of practice swings with the baseball bat. Looking at the trunk, he thinks about the best angle and begins to swing the bat hard and fast into the trunk. The first couple of swings, Luke cries out, but the cries soon fade. He throws the baseball bat back into the trunk and closes it. He takes a minute
to catch his breath and goes back into the backseat of the car. Looking over, he sees Billy has his hands over his ears, and his face is buried in the front seat. He motions for Lester to drive the car forward but is surprised to see Lester is gone. He collapses into the backseat.

  “It’s me and you, Billy. Lester is gone.”

  “I know, Blake,” Billy says.

  “Did he say anything before he left?”

  “No, he was too scared.”

  “Which way did he go?”

  “To the left, deeper into the woods.”

  Jumping into the driver’s seat, Blake turns the ignition key forward, he puts the car in Drive, and steps on the gas pedal. Pointing the car in the direction of Cripple Cove. He needs Kevin to show him how to neutralize the dogs so he can get the money under the doghouse. The drive down the long dirt road is quiet. He can see Billy in the backseat through the rearview mirror. The expression on Billy’s face is telling Blake he pushed Billy too far. This ordeal has been too much for Billy, but Blake was not going to do it without him.

  “You okay, Billy?”

  “Yes, I’m fine, Blake,” Billy says with a scowl on his face.

  “Cindy was your sister, Billy.”

  “I know, Blake!” Billy shouts from the back seat.

  “Okay, man, take it easy. I wanted to make sure you are still with me.”

  “I am in this to the end, Blake!” Billy screams.

  “Great!”

  The car pulls over to the side of the road at the base of Cripple Cove. He and Billy know this is where all the bad things happen to local people who live here in Silver Lake. He and Billy are both a little nervous being in this location late at night. The muffled sounds from the trunk have faded, a couple of slight moans seep through.

  He and Billy get out of the car. He opens the trunk retrieving the binoculars, and stands off to the side closer to the lake water. Looking through the binoculars out over the water, he can see more than a few bonfires off in the distance on Little Rock Island. He can see the crowds of people on the island around the fires. Looks like most of the local people of Silver Lake are on the island for the end of summer two-day-long party.

  The frogs, insects, birds, bats, animals are letting their presents be known sounding off into the night. The full moon hangs high over the lake. He and Billy sit on a rock and a log at the water’s edge. There is an old wooden rowboat tied off on the old wooden dock. He can see Billy nervously looking at the rowboat.

  “You okay, Billy?”

  “Yes, Blake.”

  “Let’s review what’s going on?”

  “Okay, Blake.”

  “Your sister has been murdered, and we found out who was responsible. He is in the trunk of my car. We are going to the Starlight Trailer Park. We are going to take any money we can find. The Starlight Trailer Park has a lot of guard dogs. I have confirmation from Luke the money is under the doghouse in the center of the trailer park. We are going to take the money and get the hell out of there as fast as we can.”

  “Okay, Blake.”

  “Kevin is going to meet us here with the equipment we need to take the guard dogs out.” Where is Kevin?

  He and Billy sit at the water’s edge, passing time like they did when they were kids.

  “Billy, after tonight, you are going to be able to focus on your recovery and take care of your mom. You will have some money to do all that,” Blake says sincerely.

  “I know, thanks, Blake.”

  The sound of an engine is heard off in the distance. Flashes of headlight shine through the trees. There is a car approaching them, so they squat down in the bushes staying out of sight. The headlights are getting closer. They squat down as low as they can. The car passes by.

  “Jesus, Billy, tonight is going to give me a heart attack.”

  “I know Blake, same here.”

  The sound of another car engine off in the distance gets louder. Kevin?

  CHAPTER 20

  Blake can see the headlights of a car coming down the long winding dirt road. He is hoping it’s Kevin, and will be relieved he is going to help.

  Getting out of the car, he can see Kevin is wearing black high-laced military boots, camouflage pants, a green T-shirt. Kevin walks towards him.

  “Kevin.”

  “Blake.”

  “Thanks for coming, man.”

  “No worries, let’s get you set up.”

  Watching as Kevin pulls a PAX-22 Long Range Tranquilizer Rifle with an ATN X-4K PRO 3-14X sight mounted on the rifle and black backpack out of the backseat. He listens while Kevin gives him an overview of the weapon. Blake is comfortable with the weapon quickly, growing up hunting and fishing is a big help.

  “Can you handle that, Blake?” Kevin says, handing him the rifle.

  “Yes, Kevin, thanks!”

  He grabs a pair of binoculars, a pair of safety goggles with covering for his mouth, nose, and puts them around his neck. He hangs the black backpack over his left shoulder. The backpack has supplies and some small weapons. The rifle is over his right shoulder.

  “We cool, Blake?” Kevin says.

  “Yes, meet me back here in a couple of hours so I can pay you.”

  “Works for me, Blake.”

  Watching as Kevin’s car drives down the long dirt road, with his rear light fading out of sight.

  Looking over, he sees Billy standing there.

  “Let’s go, Billy.”

  “Ready, Blake,” Billy says with safety goggles with covering for his mouth and nose.

  The sound of dogs barking in the distance reminds him again; he is in the right place. Walking deeper into the woods, he can feel the sticks and branches scraping his face and goggles. The bugs are buzzing around his ears. The perspiration emitting from his body is at its peak. He pulls the goggles up and wipes the sweat from his forehead with the back of his right hand. Pulls the goggles back down, he keeps walking towards the trailer park and barking dogs.

  Walking until the trailer park is in view, Blake pushes the goggles up to his forehead and looks through the binoculars. He can see the floodlights illuminating the trailer park. Chain link fencing surrounds the grounds. There is a white sign with faded red letters in the front reading, Starlight Trailer Park. The sound of dogs barking is getting louder. There are several trailers on the grounds; as he walks closer, he can see the large dog house in the middle of the grounds. He has a decent idea of the scope of the job now. Reminding himself, priority one of this job is to disable all the dogs. He needs to make sure; he and Billy can get in and get the money. No Pitbull surprises.

  Walking up to the fence, he is surprised he has not seen any people. They must be at the summer party on Little Rock Island. Looking through the binoculars over the grounds he tries to count the number of Pitbull’s. His best guess is seven, but he is not positive. He takes a knee. He pulls the backpack off his left shoulder and puts it on the ground in front of him. He does the same with the rifle. He opens the backpack. Moving some items around, he takes out the package of twelve tranquilizer darts with a label reading benzodiazepine.

  Inserting one dart into the rifle and resting the barrel of the rifle in the chain-link fence, he performs a safety check and does a dry run of reloading and firing the rifle. Moving the barrel of the rifle in and out of the chain-link fence. Checking the sight with the latest night vision technology gives him the confidence he can disable all the dogs. He counts seven dogs again. He tries to go over in his head how he is going to disable seven dogs as fast as he can. He doesn’t want to alarm the dogs and get them barking. He needs to draw them in closer to him, giving him a better shot. He removes the safety goggles with a covering for his mouth and nose.

  Reaching into the backpack, he removes a couple of plastic bags. The bags have raw beef tips in them. He was hoping he didn’t have to use them but realizes now he needs to draw the dogs in closer. He throws some of the raw meat over the fence about twenty feet in front of him. He doesn’t want the dogs to co
me in too close, since he’s using a rifle, he needs some distance. The meat hits the ground, and two muscular Pitbull’s quickly get to the meat. He presses his left index and middle finger tips on his right wrist to check his pulse. He counts to himself and comes up with seventy-five beats per minute. He needs to slow his heart rate down and focus in on the target. He needs to focus on his breathing. He leans into the scope and rifle. He steadies his breathing; he breathes in and exhales.

  The first dog is all black with a little white stripe on his forehead. He squeezes the trigger, hearing the hollow popping sound of the dart leaving the rifle. He watches closely as the dart goes into the left hip of the dog. The dog doesn’t move; he is preoccupied with eating the meat. The dog slowly starts to fade and drops to the ground. He pulls the barrel of the rifle out of the fence and quickly reloads.

  Putting the barrel of the rifle back into the fence, he takes aim at the second dog. The second dog is gray with some white stripes across his rib cage. Blake focuses in on the second dog through the sight. He controls his breathing; he breathes in and exhales. Squeezing the trigger, he sends the second dart towards the left shoulder of the second dog. The dart misses. The second dog doesn’t notice the dart flying over his body; he keeps eating the meat.

  “Crap!” Blake says into the dark night.

  “It’s okay, Blake, try again,” Billy says.

  Reloading, he slows his heart rate down with breathing exercises. Breathing in and exhaling slowly over and over. He takes his time and feels his heart rate slow down. He wipes the sweat from his brow with the back of his right hand, moving the barrel of the rifle into the chain-link fence.

  Checking the sight again gives him the confidence he can hit the target. Squeezing the trigger, the third dart of twelve is fired. The dart hits the second dog high on the left shoulder. It is not a solid hit, but he hopes it is enough to get the job done. He watches with anticipation, hoping the second dog will slowly drop to the ground. The second dog seems unaffected by the dart and continues to eat. A few minutes pass and the second dog finally drops. He is a little worried; he has nine darts left for five dogs. He cannot afford to miss again.