Thirty minutes later, Maude opened the door and entered her home, lit up an unfiltered cigarette and went through the house to sit on her back porch. She poured a gin and tonic on the way, adding ice from the kitchen refrigerator freezer. The phone rang, and she answered it reluctantly, hoping to keep the serenity of the moment.
“Hello,” she said. “This is Maude Rogers, whose calling?”
“Miss Maude, it’s me, Ernest. I thought I best call you. I went to see Farley Dawson, and sure enough, the boy is there. Farley said his nephew dropped him off yesterday morning. He said his nephew sounded crazy as a March hare, saying that Bobby is gone and never coming back. He warned Farley to keep quiet about the boy if he wanted to live.”
Maude was silent for a minute, trying to digest the new information. “Thank you Ernest,” she said soon after. “I don’t know what all that means, but if the boy is safe, that is a blessing. I appreciate you taking the time to help out once again.”
“Yes, ma’am, anytime you need me, just pick-up the phone,” the deputy said, ending the call.
The rocking chair called her name, her butt so tired she could hardly wait to sit down. The stress of the trip to Phoenix was still taking its toll on her body. She sat down heavily, kicking her boots off, sighing loudly as the evening air cooled her toes through thin cotton socks.
The gin hit her empty stomach and threatened to come back up, the brief nausea from the alcohol a temporary condition. Before long the drink eased her tensions, and she sat back in the chair and closed her eyes. The shade of the porch overhang shut out the last of the evening sun and her last thought before she dozed was gratitude to God that the boy was safe.
The sound of gunfire and the whizz of a ricocheted bullet passing near her head made Maude jump awake and dive from the chair. She cursed her bad knees for the slowness of her movement. Another loud pop and zing of a near miss had her on the floor, looking for cover.
The only solid object on the porch was a large, metal milk can, its circumference adorned with painted flowers. The can, a leftover from Grace’s domain, was filled with sand to keep the winds from toppling it during storms that blew quickly through the countryside.
Maude crawled behind the can and reached for her gun in the holster on her belt. Another loud pop came from down the hill this time, near her rent house. The impact of the bullet that followed broke the large, double- paned window of her bedroom, causing Maude to curse loudly.
“Son of a gun, I’ll have to replace that glass!” she yelled. Positioning herself directly behind the milk can, she tried to pinpoint where the shooter was hiding. She saw the swaying limbs of a peach tree near the backyard garden of the rent house where Mary Ellen’s sunflowers waved bright, yellow faces in the evening breeze.
Positioning the pistol against the handle of the milk can, Maude fired at the peach tree, her finger gentle on the sensitive trigger, repeating the process once, then twice. Moving as fast as her knees would propel her forward, she headed away from the back porch, toward the large post and open gate that separated the rent house from the main residence.
The sun was lowering, filling the western sky with its bright red and orange goodbye, the phrase, ‘red sky at night, sailor’s delight’ reassuring Maude that there would be no rain before morning. She sat behind the post, using its breadth for cover, trying to keep from being shot.
The silence in the dusk was eerie; the experience of her long years affirming that danger still lurked downhill from her location. Easing herself away from the post, Maude began a slow crawl low to the ground in the direction of the last gunfire. Her socked feet, damp from the moisture in the freshly watered grass found a cache of goat heads, the meanest kind of stickers in the grass.
“Ouch,” she said, pulling burrs off her wet socks. “Dang stickers and sprinklers,” she said to herself. Her movements were slow and cautious with the ache in her hips beginning to demand that she stop and rest, but there was no time. Darkness would be on them soon. Even then, in the early part of dusk, the stars were becoming visible.
A peach tree and a pear tree grew about fifty feet from the rear entry of the rent house, and near them sat a utility shed housing garden tools and the push lawnmower used for the yard and garden upkeep. Maude always allowed her renters to plant their own garden as long as they didn’t let it become an overgrown jungle of unattended plants.
The utility shed was large enough to conceal a person intent on hiding himself, a thought that drove her away from the building. She kept watch for movement in other places as she crawled on her stomach. The loud pop of gunfire began again, one following another, the shots whining as they penetrated objects in the yard. Maude was pissed.
“Coward,” she yelled, rolling away from her former position. “Come and get me.”
The bullets began peppering the ground where she had lain just moments before, all emanating from the right side of the utility shed. Maude found her cell phone in the pocket of her jeans, and forced her hand inside to retrieve it, the awkwardness of her position causing the phone to hang on the seam of her pocket. Finally she had it.
Quietly she opened the device and made a whispered call for backup. She knew that the sounds of law enforcement and emergency vehicles would soon permeate the night air. There were only a few minutes left to finish her job.
Hugging the side of her rent house, Maude knew she was concealed enough to get off the ground onto her knees and begin a fast, painful crawl toward the left side of the shed. When she got closer, she could see the door was partially opened, the inside dark and forbidding. Scuffling noises were coming from the shed, sounds of metal clinking against metal indicating someone was inside.
The door suddenly burst wide open, and a dark figure propelled the pedals of a mountain bike across the yard, headed for the open street. Mary Ellen and her roommate had both owned bicycles, and Maude had stored them in the shed after the murders, waiting for their families to claim the property. She quickly fired a shot toward the fleeing figure, nicking the rider in the left shoulder. She saw the figure hesitate for a minute, then turn and fire toward her position.
A bright-burning sensation started near her waistline on the left side, the pain intense and continuous. Maude pulled her pants aside and saw an entry wound above her hip, a pass through hole that was bleeding slowly. In spite of the pain, the detective knew that she couldn’t stop and wait for help or the shooter would get away. She knew it was Dawson, for who else would stalk her in her own home.
She reached inside her shirt and unhooked her bra, then slid her hand inside the sleeve until she could find the straps. Pulling the cotton fabric through the sleeve holes she removed the garment and folded it tightly against the wound in her side. The injury didn’t look life threatening, it just hurt like hell.
Putting pressure against the wound with the fabric of her bra, Maude used her belt across her hips, stopping the bleeding and easing the pain somewhat. She took some deep breaths, her nerves tight from pain, anxiety, and fear.
Determination that the killer wasn’t going to get away drove her toward the utility shed where she pulled the second bicycle away from the wall and mounted it, stripping off the burr-filled socks. But Maude’s problems were increasing. She hadn’t been on a bicycle since she was sixteen years old. Her weakened condition aside, Maude knew she had to give chase before the killer disappeared again. She straddled the craft and began pedaling barefoot, weaving across the yard as she tried to gain control, using the brakes and the handle bars for support. She fell once, but recovered in time to grab for the side of the house to keep from hitting the ground.
Finally the weaving stopped as the front wheel rolled onto the pavement of the street, in the direction of the departing shooter. Up ahead, Maude could see the faint outline of a figure moving down the darkening road, the object of her chase within sight, giving her the incentive to pedal the machine faster.
The bicycle weaved again as the speed of her forward motion increased. Maude
reseated herself, restoring her balance on the awkward, rolling contraption. The front wheel settled and turned faster, easing her closer to the figure ahead. She gritted her teeth against the pain in her side and the ache in her bare feet as they pushed the rough pedals. The pads of her feet scraped the pavement, searching for balance. There was some small comfort from the knowledge that she wouldn’t keel over dead from her wounds.
The escaping bicyclist had slowed, and began weaving across the road, possibly hoping that his pursuer would become over-confident after seeing his addled movements. Maude took advantage of the slower speed of the rider and closed more of the distance between them.
Suddenly the sound of gunfire began again as the shooter fired his weapon from the weaving bicycle, first toward Maude, and then toward the headlights of a car in his lane. The four wheel vehicle was moving fast toward the bike rider, the car’s high beams blinding both Maude and the shooter. She drew a deep breath, knowing that the driver of the car had probably saved her life by distracting the shooter’s aim.
Keeping her speed, Maude drew closer to the other bicycle, dodging to the side of the road as the oncoming car spotted the two riders and tried to avoid connecting with either of them. A rock, or a hole in the pavement, or possibly a distortion of the tar that had melted and reset on the street threw the front wheel of the first bicycle onto the pavement. He landed on the section of gravel and tar between the car driver’s ability to stop and his unchecked forward motion. The screeching of older style, drum brakes and the sound of metal crushing against metal was all Maude could hear until the agonizing scream of the bicyclist drowned all other sounds.
She stopped pedaling and touched the hand brake, hoping she could stop without falling. Miraculously, her feet drug the pavement beneath her, and she realized that the chaos had come to an end. The pain in her side had returned with a vengeance and blood from the wound was dripping down her left leg, weakening her. But in the end, it was the pain from pushing the metal bicycle pedals with her bare feet that moved her to the side of the pavement. Maude dismounted and sat quietly, out of the way of traffic.
The car that had collided with the fleeing shooter stopped, the driver shocked by the suddenness of the accident. He had not been hurt by the wildly flying bullets. He called for the cops, but the dispatcher at 911 told him that emergency vehicles were already en route.
Maude could only sit and dizzily watch the scene in front of the automobile’s headlights. Any further response was impossible. The pain from the beltline wound was excruciating, the injury worse than she had at first thought. Her weapon was still in the holster where she had placed it before she began the chase. She was grateful that it hadn’t fallen to the pavement in the wild ride, knowing that she wouldn’t have lived it down if she’d she lost her gun on the roadway.
“Crap,” she said to no one in particular, “I need a cigarette.”
Chapter 30
The next few minutes arrived and passed slowly, bringing too many questions from too many people. The haziness of night was confusing when seen through the headlights of a thousand cars. At least there seemed to be a thousand or more to Maude. Ambulance drivers in pairs surrounded her, ready to lift her bruised and bleeding body from the ground where she still sat, observing the scene.
“Wait,” Maude said to the strong arms placing her on a gurney. “Wait. I need to find out what happened. Is he dead?”
“Don’t know ma’am. Can you tell me your name?” One of emergency techs continued talking while piercing Maude’s arm with a needle attached to a plastic bottle hanging above the gurney.
“Maude Rogers,” she said tiredly, “Detective Maude Rogers. I must talk to the officers that are here.”
“Yes ma’am,” the tech said, “There are some other police officers talking to that man in the car. I don’t know if they see you over here. We can make sure they know you’re going to the hospital.”
“Not yet. I can’t leave here till I see what happened,” Maude insisted.
“Detective Rogers, you’re hurt pretty bad, lost a lot of blood. We need to get you to the hospital.” The emergency worker was adamant, but no more so than Maude.
“Wheel me over there and let me see for myself. This is my crime scene,” she insisted, trying to raise her body off the gurney.
“Okay detective. We can take you by there, but then we have to leave.” It seemed to Maude she had finally got through to the men transporting her, but after she turned her head and recognized Robert Dawson lying on the road, surrounded by flashing blue and red lights, the last thing she remembered was being forcibly strapped to the gurney as she tried to get off it to see if he was dead or alive.
Maude’s next conscious thought was that she was incredibly thirsty and needed a cigarette. There was a hammer being wielded against the back of her head and a stake went through her left side, pinning her to a small bed.
“Where am I?” She yelled. “Hey, where am I, and why am I tied down? What’s going on?”
“Oh, Maudie, you need to be still.” The voice that spoke sounded familiar. “You’re hurt pretty bad. They have some plastic lines going in and out of you. You aren’t tied down. Now if you want to be tied down, I could oblige you,” the speaker continued. “But let’s wait till we get you out of here.”
“Bill, Bill Page. Is that you?” Maude asked, her voice echoing the confusion she felt.
“Yes ma’am, sure is,” the tall, mustached man said, leaning over her face, kissing her cheek in the process. “It’s me in the flesh. Heard you were down, and thought I’d see for myself. Couldn’t believe that anyone could get by you, and put you in the hospital.”
“No good son of a dog ambushed me. But I think I got him too,” she said tiredly.
“You did. Hit him twice, once in the lower part of his right, butt cheek, and the other one in his right shoulder. He should have turned the other cheek, would have made sitting easier,” Bill said with a grin.
“So I didn’t I kill him?” She asked with her voice breaking.
“No ma’am, you didn’t. He rode that bicycle into the front end of John Q. Public’s automobile and knocked hell out of himself and the machine he was riding. It near killed him, but he isn’t dead. He’s in the hospital under guard, but he isn’t going any place.” Bill seemed to be having a little fun with Maude, and it had begun to tick her off.
“Who called you?” She growled.
“Your partner, Joe. Told me you were in bad shape so I took the red-eye and here I am. Guess you might say I was hoping to get to see you still alive,” he added, more seriously.
“Where is Dawson? I want to see him. Got to make sure he’s down and stays down,” Maude said, trying to get out of the bed.
“Whoa now, Miss Maudie, you aren’t going anywhere for a little bit,” Bill said, easing her back down on the pillow. “Your man will keep. He isn’t going anywhere for a few days. Don’t think he will ever be the same. The crash with the car left his head with a big knot on it and both his arms and one leg broken. He has a broken hip, several lacerations on his face and torso and is in a coma from the head injury. I’m sure your partner can fill you in on the details.”
Maude lay back. “How long have I been in here?” she asked.
“Two nights. You’ve been in and out, mumbling some. The docs patched up the hole in your side and worked on your feet. Be a while before you can walk on those beauties. Tore them up pretty good,” Bill said, sympathy creeping into his voice. “My, my, Maude Rogers; you are one tough cop. Wish I had a picture of that ride you made. Hot dang.”
“Yeah, I’m tougher than I am smart,” she said with a sigh.
Within a few minutes both Lieutenant Patterson and Joe Allen entered the room. They were both smiling.
“What’s so funny?” She asked testily.
“We heard you hollering all the way down the end of the hall,” Patterson replied. “Figured someone must have woke the she-bear in her den.”
“How you doing
, partner?” Joe asked, looking at her with concern.
“I’m ready to get out of this bed,” she said. “I have work to do.”
“Not so fast, detective,” Patterson warned. “You can sit up here and write your report.”
“Joe, see if you can get her a laptop. I need to see her version of what happened.”
“I’ll tell you what happened. Dawson tried to kill, me but he slipped up and just wounded me. Then I shot at him, and I guess I hit him. He took off on a bicycle, and I jumped on the other one. That’s what happened.”
“Maude, have you seen the results of his shooting before?” Bill asked quietly.
“We tracked his movements, detective,” Patterson said, “He had more than one gun with him when he went calling on you. He wasn’t looking to kill you. Standing up against the side of your rent house was a sniper rifle with a laser sight. It hadn’t been fired. Your boy was sending you a message. But he wasn’t trying to kill you, or you’d be dead.”
“Fraid so Maude,” Joe said quietly. “Dawson must have had another reason for coming to your house. Not sure what it was, but it wasn’t to kill you, unless… something changed his mind when he got there. Either way, I’m glad to see you still spitting and sputtering, alive and sassy.”
Maude lay back, pondering the information, her confusion disappearing with the iteration of the facts from the scene with Dawson. She wondered why he hadn’t put more effort into killing her. Or maybe he didn’t get the chance after she returned his fire. Why would he shoot at her if he didn’t mean to kill her? She still wasn’t clear about his obsession with her. So she knew him for three months when he was a little boy. That wasn’t enough to create a strong attachment, was it?
Determined to get some answers to her questions Maude pretended to be falling asleep, hoping the group of well-meaning men would leave her for a while. Thankfully, it worked. All three left the room and went elsewhere. Easing her feet over the side of the bed she discovered that Bill had made a very good prediction concerning her feet. There would be no walking on them today. A wheelchair sat off to the right of the bed, its large spokes stilled.
The Maude Rogers Murder Collection Page 26