The Final Shortcut

by G. Bernard Ray

  Across the street the parking lot of Mario’s Pizzeria was sparsely occupied but it was busy enough to conceal two men in a rental car. As they approached the XXXperience Taipei noticed the suspicious man next to his car and immediately parked close by, so they could watch. They silently watched each moment with great intensity, each man discreetly taking a turn with the binoculars. Neither man spoke nor showed any outward sign of emotion through the long minutes. It wasn’t until after Agent Hitchcock pulled away that Fudd broke the silence.

  “I told you Tree was stupid.”

  Taipei rolled his neck around, stretching, “That you did.”

  “This presents a new set of problems.” Fudd rubbed his eyes and craned his neck also.

  “You want some pizza?”

  “Yeh I’m getting hungry…what now?”

  “We find Tree before the cops do. I don’t know about Faruk. He’ll probably end up with the Feds.” Fudd rubbed his neck, feeling the stress in his muscles.

  “Maybe we should eat later. Tree’s bound to hear about this and haul ass.”

  “Maybe…” He thought for a minute considering his options. Meanwhile Taipei started the engine and checked his mirrors waiting for a sign to go. “We should head out to the farm…the back way.”

  “As you speak.” Taipei put on his shades and exited the parking lot.

  “Did you notice anything familiar about the cop in the parking lot?” Fudd poked Taipei in the shoulder as he spoke.

  “There was something, what did you see?”

  “A strange coincidence, he looks like that guy, Geezer.”

  “You mean Wheezer. The undercover?” Taipei turned to look at him, a surprised look on his face.

  “Yes, he disappeared and then this guy appears, I think we should keep an eye out for him as well.”

  Taipei spoke up, “I’m gonna have to start a list.”

  “No, that won‘t be necessary, but I do want to go back and check out Tree’s friend in the woods. He’s that ugly guy from the leather shop in Bontonville.” Fudd took off the binoculars and put them back in the case.

  “Why? He doesn’t even know us.”

  “No, but he raises my curiosity. I want to know what else he does back in the woods, and how Tree hooked up with him” Fudd looked at him and grinned an evil grin. “Call it a professional curiosity.”

  Taipei smiled back at him as he braked for a streetlight. “Curiosity killed the cat.”

  Chapter 18

  Mary was waiting by the window when she saw Tree turn off the road and head for the farmhouse. She had heard the alarm clock ring that morning but pretended to be asleep until he left. She was on the phone to Fudd before he left the driveway. Fudd had promised to take her away with him to the Caribbean after she played her part. One that she was more than happy to perform. Her long, loose, boring relationship with Tree was at an all time low and she was ready for a change. So when Fudd baited her hook with the promise of stoned fun in the sun, she couldn’t refuse. Now all she had to do was wait and watch.

  She half jogged to the other end of the house, fixed a fresh cup of coffee and took her seat at the table. Everything was arranged to look like she had just woken up and made breakfast. The curiosity inside her about Tree’s big deal was growing with each heartbeat. And in the long seconds before he opened the door, she struggled to look sleepy and disinterested. Hoping against hope that she could carry it off without giving anything away. Fortunately when Tree entered he was in too good a mood to notice anything unusual.

  “Hi, you’re up early.”

  “Huh?” Mary replied sleepily.

  “Well, it’s not noon yet.” Tree quipped sarcastically as he helped himself to her coffee. “OW! That’s hot!”

  “Serves you right for that last comment. I just made the pot, why don’t you get you some.” She lit a fresh cigarette and glared at him, adding just one more thing to her list of reasons for leaving him. He hummed to himself and poured a cup, a weighty bulge under his left arm was the cause of his happiness. With eighty thousand dollars he could find a lot to hum about. And right now he was on top of the world. As he stirred in the sugar, he stared at cabinet doors in a daze still humming an unknown tune.

  “You’re mighty cheerful, you win the lottery or something?” Mary talked slowly trying to look sleepy.

  “Or something more like. I was just thinking about how nice the weather is in Florida this time of year and about spending some quality time with my lover. It could snow any day here and down south they’re still swimming.” He looked back at her with a broad grin. “You ready for a road trip?” He stood up straight and blew on his coffee, his eyes fixed on Mary. She sat stunned, her mouth agape. For what seemed like a full minute she stared at him unable to believe her ears.

  “What do you mean, me and you …and Florida?” Her mouth fell open again and both her hands were hanging at her sides.

  “How about St. Augustine, you know you can still drive on the beach there…and they still speak English.” He walked over and sat across the table from her, still blowing his coffee.

  “How? You rob your savings?”

  “No but I might. I just made a big deal and with what I’ve got in the bank we could start a business of our own. Something legal you know, so you can retire at a ripe old age and spoil our grand kids.” He looked at her with a dreamy gaze she hadn’t seen in a long time and she suddenly forgot every negative thing he ever did. Her heart jumped in her chest at the prospect of having a real home all her own.

  “You mean you want us to move to Florida and start a normal life? A real house and all?” Her excitement was immeasurable.

  “Yeh, what do you think? I mean we been together for a long time. We might as well just get married, buy a bike shop and have a few curtain climbers” He scooted his chair over to hers and pulled her close. “I haven’t always treated you nice before but maybe we can change that too.” He kissed her long and passionately. She couldn’t believe her ears and the sudden romantic surge in Tree had completely swept her off her feet. When she woke up this morning, she wanted his head on a platter and right now she would walk across broken glass for him. Most of her adult life she had dreamed about having a house and a family. They embraced for several minutes in silence until Tree noticed she was crying. “Oh don’t cry. I ain’t lying.” They laughed and kissed again. “Or maybe Tampa.” They laughed again and as they parted Tree noticed an unfamiliar car coming up the drive. He stepped up to the window and watched it park. “It looks like Fudd and Tai. I wonder what they want.”

  Mary jumped in her skin suddenly remembering the calls and her deal with Fudd. “Um…maybe you shouldn’t mention your deal.” He cut her a serious glance and she reacted quickly, knowing what that look meant. “Well …they might be upset.”

  “Why?” Tree looked back out the window.

  “Well you now how he is, he might not like it. If he mentions it, you might tell him it fell through.” She started to fidget and lit another smoke.

  “What’s going on here? You told them something, didn’t you? You knew they were coming?” Tree stood at the window, his face a mask of disgust.

  “NO! I just know how serious Fudd can be. Just get them to go away and we’ll split for Florida today. OK?” She started to light another cigarette when she noticed she had one in her mouth.

  “What the hell is going on here?” Tree’s booming voice could be heard outside and Fudd listened with interest. Through the window he could see Tree yelling at an unseen Mary somewhere behind the wall.

  “Looks like our lovers are at it again, let’s keep this short and sweet.”

  “I’ll flip you for Tree.” Taipei grinned and feigned reaching for some change.

  “No you can have him. I should be able to get my hands on Mary without too much struggle.” Fudd reached in his pocket for a pair of tailored leather gloves and pulled them tight onto his hands.

  “Too bad she had to be here.”

  “Why?” Fudd a
nswered without lifting his head.

  “No reason.” And without another word they walked up to the door and entered without knocking.

  Chapter 19

  The whole of Randy Street knew of Faruk’s arrest within the hour and it was obvious that no one was surprised. Agent Hitchcock had found a few talkative shopkeepers that had no love for the likes of Faruk. It would indeed seem that there is a modicum of honor among thieves and other criminals. And the big smelly Indian hadn’t any friends along the strip. All the conversations he’d had and those he’d overheard contained almost the same dialog. Everyone seemed to know Faruk was dealing in human cargo but until now, no one had said a word. The Feds had publicized the fact that one of the girls had called them to keep suspicion off the rest of the investigators. Every other girl at the XXXperience had her own tale of abuse and violence to tell.

  Before sunset the media had a small force camped in the parking lot. For the next twelve hours there would be a flurry of special reports and personal interviews from every one of interest. Then one by one the vans would leave in search of more fresh news. Before another sunset the parking lot will be empty, and business will continue as usual. If anyone had any inkling of a larger ongoing investigation, there had a remarkable way of concealing it. Ramone felt confident that their secret had been kept and he was very satisfied that he had saved the two girls. Several hours had passed since the arrest and he was anxious to hear about the girls and about Tree. Jenkins said he would call by nine p.m. But Ramone couldn’t wait.

  “Jenkins.”

  “It’s me Ray.”

  “You’re early, you feeling impatient?” Conrad prodded him without emotion.

  “Only by ten minutes, and yes I’m a bit anxious. Have you heard about the two young girls?” His voice betrayed his emotions.

  “They are going to be fine. They haven’t found out much yet because they’re still fairly traumatized. All I know so far is, their parents were killed by a maniac and they were locked in a truck with a corpse for a while. It’s amazing they are still alive.” Jenkins took a sip of water from a bottle that had long since lost its chill.

  “Well. Who are they? Have they I.D’d the parents?”

  “Hang on now! I’m getting my information from a third party so it’s a little slow in coming. The doctors say they will be fine but it may take some time to get a believable story out of them. So far we haven’t even gotten a full name. You are going to have to be patient.”

  “Well…ok.” Ramone sighed heavily trying to ease the tension he felt. “What about Tree? Have they picked him up yet?”

  “Yes and no. It seems that your old friend met with foul play. That old black pick-up was found in a remote spot with two bodies in it. Tree had a broken wrist and a nearly decapitating slice across his throat. The coroner said that a person or persons unknown probably held his arm behind him while he struggled then cut his throat.” Jenkins took a short pause to sort the change in his pocket, hoping for enough for a fresh bottle of water.

  “Ouch! A very large person or persons would be required for that job, Tree was a healthy boy.” Ramone’s mind was already working on a possible list of subjects. “What about the other body? A woman?”

  “A long haired blond female in her mid thirties. Slender, slight figure, she was probably his girlfriend. The coroner said she didn‘t show any defensive wounds. Just a broken trachea which caused her to suffocate slowly.” Jenkins pushed back from his desk and rubbed his eyes, the strain of another long day wearing on him.

  “That sounds like Crazy Mary. She was mostly his girl, when she wasn’t partying with some one else.”

  “Anybody you know of that might want to kill them?”

  Ramone stared straight ahead with great intensity. “I got a gut feeling about those two high rollers that I told you about. They have got to be mixed up in this somehow.”

  “You do remember that this is not our case. We have to stay out of it. Unless you have something solid to go on, like a motive, we’re back to square one.” Jenkins walked to the end of his hallway to refill his bottle at the water fountain. “Priority one, we still have to look for signs of those missing trucks.”

  “Oh, none of this makes any sense, why can’t we just shoot the bad guys like the old days?” Ramone clenched his fist and paced excitedly, beads of sweat covered his forehead. “I can’t help it! I just know those guys are involved. Who’s to say they haven’t been commuting for many years.”

  “Don’t waste too much time on it but see what you can find out. And by the way, we’ve found out that there is bad blood between Bontonville and Brayton, their Sheriffs’ departments haven’t cooperated for twenty years. We think you can safely contact the Bontonville Sheriff without word getting back to Brayton. He might be of some help. We couldn’t do any worse than we have already.” He slid back under his desk and logged on to his computer. It would be a few more hours yet before he could call it a night. Even though the investigation wasn’t getting any hard evidence, he still had many people deployed. A huge team in constant movement, checking and double-checking every scrap of information available. And until the Senator decided to call them off, they would continue to pour over the same information again and again.

  “I know how you feel. I think I will keep watch out for Fudd and his big buddy, maybe I’ll get lucky.”

  “Just don’t get too cock-sure of yourself and do something stupid. I don’t want to find you dead too!”

  Ramone took a deep breath, “Ok, I‘ll take it easy. I guess I’m still a little pumped up from that other bust.” He closed his eyes and took a few more slow steady breaths.

  “Just make sure you come back in one piece, you’re good but nobody’s perfect.” Jenkins hung up the phone, they both had said enough, and they both knew each other’s feelings from many years together. He knew Ramone could follow a cold trail better than a bloodhound, and if he had a gut feeling then it was worth looking into. His only hope now was that he was right, and right now they desperately needed a miracle to solve this case.

  Chapter 20

  It had been a very busy day at Ellen’s with an influx of travelers taking in the mountain scenery. And just before closing the North Vilpott Leisure Club pulled up in a sixty-seat bus. For the next two hours they ate, took pictures and bought souvenirs. And above all they talked. By the time the group left, Ellen was ready to drop. The receipts looked very good and all the girls had made some healthy tips. Junior’s shop had a banner day as well. It looked like it was hit by a storm. After the last of the trash was dumped and all the lights were out, Ellen stopped to look back before locking up. She could see a light in the back room where he was working. For a second she stood there in the dark, the only sound was some light traffic nearby. She could feel her heart racing faster and her breaths coming shorter, all at once she started to weep profusely. The same old feelings of dread and fear from her nightmares, only this time she was wide awake. Her legs got weak beneath her and she wobbled to a seat, her tears dried up and her feelings of anguish turned to fear. She jumped at the sound of a car horn, her emotions shredded. For an instant she thought her son was in danger. Shaken, she rose to her feet and was about to call out when she heard Junior singing along with the radio. As she flopped back into the chair she laughed, then she began to cry again. “What is wrong with me?” She laid her head on her arm and cried quietly for a few moments. Until gradually she felt the fearful emotions subside and her heart began to beat normally again.

  For most of the last twenty years she just assumed her secret condition was the backlash from her drug laden past. More recently she wasn’t sure of her sanity. For the most part her dreams seemed to be random and incomprehensible. But lately she began to see a coincidence between her feelings and tragedy. Twice in the last several months she’d had an episode only to find out later that a driver she knew had gone missing at nearly the same time. If she believed in clairvoyance it wouldn’t be so hard. But the thought of somehow sensi
ng the future was unsettling.

  She looked at her face in a compact. Her skin looked smooth and young but her eyes told a different tale. Life had not been kind and the eyes that stared back at her were very tired indeed. Tomorrow she would talk to Clyde and tell him all her manic fears. Maybe he could give her the strength to seek help. A weary Ellen took one more look in the mirror and tried to muster a smile. Tomorrow things would begin to change for the better. As she shakily rose to her feet, she couldn’t believe how tired she felt. The music from Junior’s shop was just loud enough for her to hear. She almost called out to say goodbye but she knew he wouldn’t hear. He would work on into the night, refilling the shelves with his skillful artistry. More tears welled in her eyes as she thought of her son, hardworking and talented. She hated herself for ever thinking that he might hurt her, she was certain now that it was all in her mind. As she locked up and walked to her car she could hear the sewing machine humming steadily, Junior was hard at work.