“Ops, sorry about that.”
Cuffed and standing by the car, Rick Calhoun objected, saying,
“Hey, it’s raining. I’m getting wet.”
Half pushing a reluctant Rick Calhoun through the door and past an observing Edith, they continued into the precinct and into Walter’s office. Walter looked up and saw a proud Derek standing behind a very irate Rick. Walter said,
“I see the APB was successful. Where did you find him?”
Instead of Derek replying, Rick blurted out the answer first.
“I was in the Saddle Bar and Casino minding my own business playing pool when this ass for no reason just walked up and cuffed me.”
Looking to Derek, Walter asked,
“Is that correct Derek?”
A devilish smile flashed across his proud face.
“Yes sir, that is correct.”
“I see. Did you at least read him his Miranda rights?”
After a jolt to attention Derek admitted,
“No sir, I forgot.”
“Best you do it now then.”
Reluctantly Derek reached into his pocket and brought out a piece of paper. Carefully pronouncing and reading every word, he cited the Miranda to his prisoner.
When it was completed to Walter’s lukewarm satisfaction, he looked to Derek and said,
“Thank you deputy. That will be all. Get the cuffs off and leave us. I’d like a private conversation with him if you don’t mind.”
While unshackling the cuffs it was clear that Derek was not happy to be leaving a prisoner alone in the Sheriff’s office. He said,
“Be careful with him. He is a flight risk.”
Walter calmly looked to Derek and said,
“Oh I think he will stay.”
Then looking to Rick, he continued,
“However, just in case you have foolish thoughts of hightailing it past my receptionist out there, she will not hesitate to shoot you in the face. She enjoys doing that so let’s not tempt her with that sort of thing again shall we?”
With a wink, he added,
“It’s a messy cleanup.”
He then pointed to the chair across from his desk and continued,
“Have a seat.”
In a rude manner, Rick pulled the chair back and dropped into it. Still objecting, he spit out,
“You can’t just arrest somebody without charges, I have rights.”
Walter casually pointed to the thick file on his desk and said,
“See that file? That’s all you. I’m sure if I went through it I could find a few things to charge you with.”
“I ain’t never broken no law.”
“Well Mister Calhoun, there is a big difference between breaking the law and getting caught. Let’s just call this one a draw shall we.”
It was clear by his sneer that Rick understood the difference. Walter continued,
“The charge I’m interested in is forceful entry onto private property and making threats of bodily harm to the owner.”
A surprised Rick bolted straight up in the chair and forcefully denied it.
“What? I haven’t done nothing like that to nobody.”
Walter opened the file and read from the first page.
“According to Mrs. Ruth Albright, you tore the gate off her fence and threatened to kidnap her grandson.”
“That’s a bold face lie. It ain’t possible to kidnap your own kid.”
In a stern voice Walter said,
“Actually it is.”
It was a loud objection.
“I have a right to see my kid.”
“His name is Gary.”
With the same sneer, Rick acknowledged,
“I know that. The brat is my kid, why wouldn’t I know that?”
Walter then slid a piece of paper toward Rick and said,
“This is a restraining order issued by Judge Clemens. It bars you from making any contact with Ruth Albright and coming within fifty yards of her property.”
Staying argumentative, Rick objected,
“It’s all a lie. She is the one who shot at me. She damn near killed me. There is a bullet hole in my truck for Christ sake.”
Walter casually looked down at the report. After a minute of pretending to read it he said,
“That’s not what it says here.”
“This is bull shit. I’m being framed.”
“Don’t worry about it Rick. I’m sure that’s not the worst thing that’s ever happened to you.”
Sure that he had Rick where he wanted him Walter leaned back and said,
“Just a couple more questions then you are free to go. I couldn’t help but notice that you have a habit of wearing cowboy boots and yet you are now wearing runners. What happened, did you get them all wet and muddy walking through a muddy field?”
“You got it wrong Sheriff, I don’t wear boots.”
“I see. So if I went to your apartment and found boots with mud on them they would not be yours then?”
“That’s right. Somebody must have put them there.”
“Why would somebody do that?”
“I don’t know, maybe that crazy old bitch is trying to frame me for something.”
“Her name is Ruth Albright.”
Irate, he snapped,
“I know her goddamn name.”
Walter reached for another paper from the thick file and showed it to Rick. Not knowing what it was, Rick only sneered. Walter explained,
“According to this, 27 days ago you purchased a flight to Lexington, a city over on the west coast.”
“So?”
“So that’s where your ex-wife Carol and Gary used to live isn’t it?”
“I know that.”
Then, as if it was important to mention, Rick put emphasis on it,
“She is still my wife. We were never divorced.”
Walter, not thinking that to be important continued,
“I just think it’s a coincidence that you were there at the same time she was killed.”
He then cast Rick an accusing glare and demanded,
“Why did you go there?”
“I wanted to see my kid.”
He then quickly corrected,
“Gary, I went to see Gary. There ain’t no law that says I can’t see my kid.”
“Actually in your case there is. When Gary was only a year old you were charged with habitual aggravated spousal assault. It says here that you had a history of beating Carol. I have hospital records here of her various injuries.”
Rick was quick to defend,
“Hey, I was never convicted of that.”
“No, I understand that. But that was only because she grabbed Gary and ran out of town and moved to Lexington before the court date.”
Knowing that was true, Rick suddenly started to feel uncomfortable. He nervously shifted in his chair and Walter subconsciously nodded his approval of the anxiety he was causing him. Rick meekly said,
“She never had the money to move there. She refused to work so we were always broke. That damn mother of hers must have given her the money. She was responsible for taking my wife and kid away from me.”
Looking at the file again, Walter said,
“It says here that you never had a job either.”
“That’s only because I could never find no job.”
There was sarcasm in Walter’s response.
“Odd that a drunk with a criminal record can’t find a job.”
“Hey, that’s deformation of character.”
“So sue me.”
Walter than heatedly said,
“I’m looking into the coincidence of Carol’s death and the attempted murder of Ruth Albright. A full report on Carol’s death is coming in from Lexington for me.”
Suddenly Walter looked mean and threatened,
“If I catch you within a mile of Gary or his grandmother I’ll come after you with the full force of this precinct. I’ll make sure you find a job in prison.”
Rick defended,
“It says in the restraining order only fifty yards.”
“I’m making it within a mile, you got it?”
“You can’t do that.”
“Watch me.”
Walter then pointed to the door and with anger said,
“You are free to go. Get out of my office.”
As Rick got up to go, he said,
“This is police harassment.”
“I’m glad you caught on to that.”
Walter then calmly added,
“Don’t walk past my receptionist real fast. She has that itchy trigger finger and is just dying to use it.”
In the hall and approaching the reception area, Rick stopped. He saw Edith was busy doing something behind the counter. He tried his best to calmly point to the door and politely say,
“Hello? Sheriff Cornwall said I could go.”
Chapter 22
From the entrance to the mysterious cavern, Gary stood dumbfounded looking at Sam floating in mid-air. Not even in a mind saturated with imagination could he conjure up such a sight. She was not simply standing still and floating upward to the ceiling but also slowly spinning. Flaying hands and a twisting body tried to keep her upright but it was an impossible task. She was not screaming in terror but was definitely scared and confused.
Gary started to gasp for breath, not because he was scared but rather because he was not doing anything to help her. He wanted to do something but didn’t know what. Rashness does not always join hands with common sense and go for a peaceful stroll together. Without thinking it through, Gary suddenly ran into a room that had no respect for the law of gravity. He was hoping to grab her leg and pull her down but by the time he was only three steps into the cavern the frugality of the plan became evident. Gary lost foot traction and was soon floating below Sam. He too was struggling to remain upright. Sam frantically yelled to Gary to grab her foot. He heard the command but was not able to contort, twist and turn to get into a position to do that.
When the ceiling of the cavern was inches from her face she defensively raised her hands to it. As if floating was not strange enough, what happened next was beyond sanity. Her hands went right through the rock ceiling as if it were only an illusion. When Gary had finally struggled, twisted and turned enough to see Sam at the ceiling, all he saw was half of the back of her body. She was melting into the rock. By the time he had lifted to the ceiling, all he saw was her disappearing shoes. He was not aware yet that he was next.
Suddenly Sam was on her back on a floor of another cavern. It was massive and well lit. Dumbfounded, she jumped to her feet and scanned the room. She saw many people wandering about wearing white smocks all attentive to computers and whatever strange machines were holding their attention. Nobody turned to see her standing perplexed in the middle of the room frantically looking around. She looked down at her feet wondering how it was possible to somehow drift through solid stone.
Adding to her confused state of mind was looking down by her feet to see a hand come out of the floor. As it rose to the elbow it gave the impression of a drowning man’s arm coming out of water begging to be saved. She then saw the top of a head appear. It turned and she realized that it was Gary oozing out of the stone floor just as she had done. When fully emerged, he jumped to his feet and stood next to her. He was about to ask what just happened when he too looked around and saw that they had somehow entered a large science laboratory.
They stood huddled together as if two lost children in a strange and hostile city. Sam was the first to recover from the shock. The instincts of a tomboy sprang alert quickly looking for a direction to run. Across the immense floor was a massive steel door but understood it was too far away to reach without getting caught. Gary understood that they needed to get out of there and thought he had a good idea. He started to jump up and down but unfortunately their entry point to this laboratory seemed to be a one way passage. The floor was solid.
Suddenly one of the male scientists turned and to his shock saw Gary jumping up and down. It took him a second to realize that he was really seeing them. When the hammer dropped, he pointed and yelled,
“Hey, hey you two, how did you get in here?”
His yelling alerted all the other scientists from whatever they were doing. They all turned around and saw what they thought was impossible. How did they get here? There was no possible way for two street kids to suddenly appear this far below ground. Now suddenly and at the center of attention, Sam knew something had to be done. Frantic, she turned to Gary and yelled,
“Run.”
Unfortunately she did not indicate what direction to run. Sam took off in one direction while Gary bolted in another. It did not take long to realize that there was no place to run and no place to hide. Each scientist must have known that because they only stood there watching the futile escape effort. The large steel door she had seen across the floor opened and through it ran five well-armed security guards. They looked mean and angry. There was nothing left for Sam to do but stand and watch them run right at her. Gary on the other hand was filled with adrenalin and started running around in desperate circles daring them to catch him.
Quick legs kept the game of tag going throughout the lab for a few minutes. It was not skill and speed that kept Gary from getting caught so much as fear and the slowness of adult legs to react as quickly as his. Finally one security guard caught him by the collar of his jacket but the only prize turned out to be the jacket that he had quickly shed. While busy ducking behind a few stunned scientists what Gary did not notice was that the guards were all armed with stun guns. What eventually captured the artful dodger was when he saw Sam held securely and forcibly by two other guards. He stopped running and conceded to the inevitable. It had been a short game of tag.
As if they were dangerous prisoners of war, Sam and Gary were surrounded by armed guards and quickly marched through what seemed to be endless tunnels, elevators and turns. It was in Sam’s nature to memorize the tunnels, turns and where the elevators were located. She didn’t know why, she just imagined that it was supposed to be that way. Eventually after too many turns and tunnels she understood that remembering everything was a futile effort.
Eventually they were pushed into an office and presented to a stern looking man sitting behind a large desk. Considering that they were in an abandoned copper mine, the office was elaborate and large. There was no doubt in Sam’s mind that they had been marched to the boss of the mountain. She had no way of guessing his age and in fact didn’t care. Her appraisal was to think that he was her dad’s age. Gary thought sure that he might be wearing a wig. After a long stare at the prisoners, Demetri Warric eventually said to one of the security men,
“So these are the two you found in my facility?”
As if it were an important question deserving a meticulous reply, the guard brought out a note pad and quoted,
“Yes sir, they were located in section 4B, laboratory 7LT.”
As if not believing it, Warric looked suspiciously at the guard and said,
“That’s a Red Zone. How in Hades did they get that far down without you detecting them?”
“That is not known yet sir. Surveillance is going through the tapes now.”
“Very well. I have an auditor on his way to question me about the budget and don’t have time to interrogate them right now. Take them to the holding tank and for Christ sake, keep an eye on them.”
Chapter 23
It was one of the older two story homes on Oak Street. Stuccoed walls and red Spanish roof tiles gave it a European look. In all her life, this was only Edith’s second home. She had lived with her parents until Walter proposed. Like Walter, it was a comfortable nest both thought they would retire in. However, now with her working and Walter doing the same at what had become a twenty-four hour job, the house and the big yard was too much for them. Another stage of their life had approached. Although she hated the thought of leaving memories behind, it was time to look
for an apartment.
At least for Edith, even in his off hours at home Walter had an annoying habit of keeping his uniform on until bedtime. He claimed that it was just his way of being ready to react to an emergency. Edith referred to it as the ‘fireman syndrome’. Sitting across the dinner table from him she accepted a small victory, at least he removed his hat. Looking at him wolf down his dinner she tried to picture him retired and sitting there in civvies. She commented,
“You know, I think retirement would look good on you.”
Knowing that she was also looking forward to it, he produced a sly smile and said,
“Don’t push it honey. There is still three months to go.”
After dinner and when the TV quiz show Jeopardy was over, Walter was in the foyer struggling into his boots and strapping on his utility belt, including his sidearm. It was not unusual for him to leave for a couple of hours in the evening. She was just glad that he at least took off his boots when in bed. From the kitchen she yelled into the foyer,
“What’s been bothering you now?”
Putting on his hat, he said,
“Coincidences and circumstantial evidence.”
While he was yelling back at her, his eyes drifted down to an old picture frame sitting on the foyer council table. The patina indicated an old frame with a faded picture of a young Walter in a Deputy uniform and beautiful Edith standing beside him. She was holding a baby in her arms and the proud father was posed right behind her. It would have been impossible to beam a wider and prouder smile from both. It had been placed in that exact spot for a reason. Every day when leaving the house it was a reminder of that terrible incident forty-one years ago. A little while ago, when he was cold hearted enough to suggest that it was time to put the picture away or at least somewhere else, he will never forget those burning eyes and deep furls across her forehead. He never made that mistake again.
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