The Final Shortcut

by G. Bernard Ray

  “I think you’re right, what’s a few minutes going to hurt. Besides I‘m hungry.” Ramone kept his eyes on the leather shop while he perused the menu, trying hard not to seem obvious. Clyde walked behind the counter and helped himself to a pot of coffee and two cups, “You did want coffee didn’t you.”

  “Nectar of the Gods.”

  “Ellen always has good coffee.” He poured two cups full and stared off in the distance, lost in thought. When Linny came by for their order he maintained a great poker face, successfully hiding his feelings. The time passed quickly and they both ate and talked for nearly an hour, avoiding the subject that brought them together. And as the restaurant began to empty out so did Junior’s shop.

  “Well, this looks like a good time to talk to your friend.” Ramone sat back and brushed some crumbs off his shirt.

  “Yeh, I guess you’re right.” It was plain that Clyde was not anxious to question Junior, and the more he thought about it the more he remembered Ellen’s nightmares.

  Ramone leaned in and spoke softly trying to comfort him. “I’m certain that Junior is just a link in the chain, whoever he bought the stuff from is probably not the guilty one either. But this is the first new information we’ve had in….”

  “I know, lets go.” Clyde was getting more upset as the minutes passed, but he couldn’t explain why. He held the door open and ushered Ramone inside where Junior was still straightening up the counter. “Hi Junior, you been busy?”

  “Yes, I had a good morning, sold a lot of pieces.” Junior looked up and smiled at his old friend, putting away the last of the mess. But when he saw Ramone, his face showed a drastic shift in his mood. “What... can I do for you?”

  “Junior, this is Special Agent Hitchcock. He’s working on a case involving some stolen goods and we thought you might help us out.” Clyde put on his best professional manner in an effort to put Junior at ease.

  “I ain’t stole anything.” Junior looked directly at Ramone when he spoke and a shadow seemed to fall across his eyes. Ramone couldn’t help but notice the difference in him. It made the hair on the back of his neck tingle. There was something about his eyes that immediately put him on the defensive.

  “Nobody is saying you have. I just wanted to ask you about an item that you bought at the flea market. Maybe you could tell me who sold it to you and what they looked like.” Ramone spoke easily and calmly, but he didn‘t offer him his hand to shake. “The artist pad that you gave Clyde here was part of a shipment that was hijacked recently. Could you tell me anything about it?”

  “Um…” Junior couldn’t believe what he was hearing. No one could have found out about that, he was too careful. Sweat popped out on his upper lip, his mind raced and behind the counter his fists were clenched tight. He wanted to run but he was rooted to the spot. “I …got that from a guy in the campground the night before the sale…a big guy.” He could feel his heart pounding so hard that he was sure they could hear it. The confrontation was unnerving, but he had to maintain his composure.

  “Can you give me a description of the man, his name or what kind of vehicle he was driving?” Ramone could tell something was wrong with Junior and he subconsciously moved to a more defensively ready position. Clyde could see the distress in Junior’s face and spoke up to try and calm him.

  “It’s all right Junior, nobody’s accusing you of anything.”

  Never looking away sweat formed on his upper lip as he continued. “He was an average sized man, about my height and weight…. Dark hair, driving a beat-up blue Ford van, Florida plates I think.” He pensively spoke, trying to work out his story quickly in his mind.

  “You said earlier that he was a big guy.” Ramone looked hard at him, studying his body language, and his last comment struck a nerve.

  “Uh…well maybe he was a little bigger than me….heavier I mean.”

  “Did you get his name?”

  “No….most people don’t offer their name.” He stared back at Ramone, his eyes showing yet another change. But he wasn’t running scared now. He was on the hunt. It was clear now to him that this guy was going to be a problem. A problem that he knew how to fix.

  “Had you ever done business with him before?” Ramone kept needling him, hoping for a reaction. But Junior stood silent for a second and then shook his head. “Have you ever gotten any other items in this manner?”

  “No, I just happen meet him that time.” He smiled and appeared to relax a bit. The change in his demeanor made both the officers look at each other. Then he smiled even wider and spoke up. “You know, I think I do have that guys name in the back…now that I’ve had time to think about it. He said he might have more goodies like that and I love electronics…isn’t that right Clyde?” Clyde nodded uneasily while Junior went into his salesman banter and kept talking. “Anyway, I’ll see if I can find it if you two gentlemen will excuse me.” And with that he disappeared into his work area. Ramone looked over at Clyde and raised an eyebrow; under his breath he asked Clyde, “Is he always that nervous?” Clyde just shook his head, a terrible feeling of dread came over him and his hand dropped to the butt of his pistol. They could hear Junior moving about in the back for a minute, and then it got unusually quiet.

  ***

  Nearby, Ellen was sleeping in the front room of her home when she suddenly sat straight up and screamed Junior’s name. A cold sweat ran down her face and she could feel pins and needles all over her skin. She couldn’t sit still so she grabbed her cigarettes and stood at the picture window, watching. For what, she couldn’t tell.

  ***

  Clyde looked past the counter and started around it when Junior burst back in holding a large revolver. He stood in the doorway and pointed the cocked weapon at Ramone’s face. In a flash of the muzzle chaos erupted.

  Clyde instinctively grabbed at the weapon and at the same instant Ramone unsheathed his nine mm and leapt to the side. The bullet passed through the fleshy part of Clyde’s wrist spraying the counter with blood before shattering a plate glass window. In a lightning fast maneuver Ramone rounded the counter and tried to find a target. For a brief instant he and Junior locked eyes. And in that long second Ramone knew that he was looking at a killer. Clyde reeled in pain as he tried to get out of the way. But before he could move, Junior was gone. Ramone struggled to get around Clyde and follow him. But the back door was standing open and his suspect had vanished. He couldn’t leave Clyde without first trying to stop the bleeding. So he stowed his sidearm and went to help. Three patrons from the dining room were already tending to Clyde. One of them was on the phone to Rosa. So Ramone ran back out to try and catch Junior. The only sign he could find was a cloud of dust where he must have spun his wheels speeding away.

  Back inside Clyde had been assisted to a chair in the restaurant. A large handed man was holding a towel tightly around his wrist cutting off the blood flow. Ramone walked quickly over to him and squatted beside the chair. “You going to live?”

  “Yeh…but I think my arm‘s broken. Did you get him?” Clyde’s face showed the intense pain but he was a strong old horse and he wanted to help.

  “All I saw was a cloud of dust. Do you know where he might be headed?”

  “Sure, he will probably try and hide on his family property. They’ve got hundreds of acres, all very wild, and no one knows it better than Junior.”

  “Do you know it too?” Ramone was anxious to trail him and a guide would be helpful.

  “Not very well. I never cared much for hunting…but aside from making leather goods, that’s all Junior does.” He winced a little, the hole in his arm beginning to throb. “I can’t believe he came out shooting like that.” Clyde looked hard in Ramone’s eyes. “I just can’t believe it.”

  “Your boy must be guilty of something bad…he panicked.” Ramone stood up and waited for a response. And by the looks he got from the people around him, he got the distinct impression that they didn’t want to believe anything bad about Junior either. “I think I’ll just look
around the shop if you don’t mind, I can always get the paperwork to make it legal if need be.”

  “I think you should, I can’t explain why he would react this way…go ahead and get the paperwork, you might need it. There must be something bigger going on here, I can just feel it.” Clyde turned a pained face to Ramone, and he could see that all his pain wasn’t from the bullet wound.

  In one swift movement he flipped out his phone and hit the redial button as he walked back into the shop. After three rings a female voice answered. “This is Conrad Jenkins office, can I help you?”

  “Marcie? Where’s Conrad?” Ramone recognized his boss’s wife’s voice, he must have caught him at home. Something that had never happened before.

  “Just a second…”

  “Jenkins, what’s up Ray?”

  “I’ve got a situation here, a wounded police officer and a suspect on the run.” Ramone was trying to calm his nerves after the excitement and he went into the work area of the shop to poke around.

  “What? Please explain.” Jenkins voice sounded a bit perturbed at first but now he was genuinely interested.

  “The Bontonville Sheriff had a piece of computer gear from one of the hijacked trucks we‘ve been looking for. And when we went to ask the fellow that gave it to him a few questions, he came out shooting. The Sheriff caught a bullet in the arm but the perp got away.” Searching while he talked, he didn’t find much in the shop that looked out of place. And there didn’t seem to be many good hiding places, so he moved back out to the showroom.

  “Do you think he’s involved with the hijackings?” Jenkins excitement was evident, as his voice seemed two notes higher.

  “I would bet my reputation on it. He’s probably hiding in the woods nearby so I could use some help look….oh my God. Ramone stopped in his tracks, staring down at the display case. At first he wasn’t sure what he was looking at. But in an instant he realized what it was and he felt a little sick.

  “What is it Ray?”

  “I just found something, wait a second and let me get it out of the case.” Stepping behind the counter and opening it, he reached for a wallet near the front. He picked it up to be sure of what he saw and quickly dropped it on the glass top. A knot in the pit of stomach tightened and he knew he was going to puke. “Oh…my…God!”

  “WHAT!”

  “There’s a wallet here that made of human skin.”

  “Oh please this is not the time for joking arou….”Jenkins was not in the mood for wasting time.

  “I’m NOT joking! It has the design of Elmer Fudd riding on a Harley with the words, Wide to Live, Live to Wide tattooed on it.”

  “Tattooed? You mean etched or whatever they call it?”

  “No I mean tattooed, I saw this very tattoo attached to Fudd’s arm at the flea market a week ago.” He reached to pick it up again, this time taking a much closer look.

  “You can’t be serious.”

  “I’m looking at it right now and I’m telling you it’s flesh! I don‘t even want to know how it got here.” Ramone could feel the bile rising in his throat, a certain sign that he was about to be sick. So he took a few deep breaths trying to control his stomach. There was only silence on the other end of the line. His old friend was apparently having just as hard a time accepting what he was hearing.

  “I’ll get on the horn right away, I’ll have some of the task force coordinate with you through the Sheriffs office in Bontonville, ok?”

  “Ok and thanks. I think we might just have our boy, I’ll call you.” The phone went dead and Ramone put it away. He slipped the wallet in his pocket and went back in the restaurant. He could hear the ambulance pulling up when he walked up to Clyde. “I got some help coming, we’d like to use your office as a base of operations if you don’t mind.”

  “What did you find in there?” Clyde could see the awful expression on Ramone’s face and it was clear he was upset.

  “Nothing…officially. That is until I get a chance to verify it.” He put his hand up to his mouth and swallowed hard, trying to hold on to his lunch. “Can you tell me which direction he went? I’d like to try and follow his trail while it’s fresh.” Before Clyde could speak, a short round man with snow-white hair stepped up and said.

  “That’s easy.” He turned and pointed toward the parking lot. “Their property borders that dirt road all the way to the state road. But it’s nothing but trees and rocks.” He motioned to Ramone to follow him. “If you want I can show you to the cut-off, but I wouldn’t want to go in there alone. Ain’t no tellin’ where he could be. An’ Clyde’s right, Junior could shoot the knees off a gnat.” The old man led Ramone out to the side of the road and pointed out a line of power poles that cut through the property. “Just under that forth pole is the driveway to his Momma’s house, and just past that is a road to the left that leads deep in the woods.” Ramone shook hands with him and turned back toward the restaurant.

  “I think I will just ride down there and take a quick look.” He smiled at the old man and patted him on the shoulder. “Thanks for all the help, tell Clyde I’ll catch up with him later.” When they parted, Ramone headed for his car and the old man wobbled as he ran back inside.

  Chapter 25

  Her hands were shaking so much she had trouble lighting a cigarette. But with perseverance she was finally able to get a long satisfying drag. Only to find that she had half of one burning in the ashtray. The realization made her want to cry again so she decided to sit down. Just a few minutes before she had seen Junior fly past her house in an unusual hurry. The way he drove seemed frantic. And even at the distance she was from the road, she could sense something that made her quake in her shoes. There was something terribly wrong and she had to do something. Most of her life she tried to ignore the premonitions, but she could no longer. Everything in her was forcing her to take action, and for the first time today she started to feel clear headed. Wiping away the last of her tears she decided to call Junior's cell phone and ask him what was going on. As she stood there she noticed another car driving past and turning onto their property. Somehow she knew he was following Junior. The phone was right next to her knee so she snatched it up and started dialing. Instead of calling her son she called the one person she knew that could make sense of it all, Clyde.

  Rosa answered the phone and immediately filled her in on all the details. Within two minutes she was in her car and on her way to the restaurant to see Clyde. She had never been more frightened in her life. And it broke her heart to finally admit that it was her son she was so afraid of.

  ***

  Junior sprayed gravel fifteen feet behind him as he took the last turn to his mine. He almost overshot the corner and had to jam on his brakes. His mind was not on his driving. Somehow that Special agent had found out about him and it disturbed him tremendously. All the precautions he took, all the studying, he had gone to extraordinary lengths to insure his security. And yet someone was on his trail. For the first time he wasn’t the hunter, he was being hunted.

  Once he got inside he would be safe, no one would ever find him once he got inside. The closer he got to the mine, the harder he searched for his remote door opener. And when he slid to a stop in front of the door he still hadn’t found it. His anxiety level jumped up a few notches when he realized it was lost. Then he remembered what he used before he had the remote and spun more gravel as he backed up to the manual switch.

  He hadn’t used the hidden switch for so long he had to pull some branches out of the way to find it. In a near panic he yanked the limbs aside. his breathing was so frantic he nearly hyperventilated. The groaning sound of the machinery was a welcome sound and it had an immediate calming effect. The huge hydraulic lifts easily pushed the door open and he drove in triumphantly. He had worked for years to make his lair an impenetrable fortress. And as he watched the door close he felt very safe. The darkness inside seemed comforting. The gloom had become his friend. By the time he parked next to his apartment he felt quite cocky.r />
  “Nobody will ever find this place. I’m way too smart for ’em. They couldn’t find me here if I hung a sign up and….” Suddenly he remembered the hatch under the shack. Somehow those other two had found it and it seemed logical that someone else might. He quickly ran for his tools and a hand full of nails. He had to seal that trapdoor before someone came poking around. This time he would be prepared. This time he would stay in control.

  Slowly he rolled up to a huge log that was blocking the dirt road. And judging from its condition, it had been there for many years. It struck him as very suspicious that a blocked road would look so well maintained. A spooky feeling crawled down his back and he jerked his head around to look to the rear. Just for security he drew his sidearm and laid it in his lap. “Just a little healthy paranoia there Ray.”

  He knew he was on the right road because Junior's trail was easy to follow. And after he backed around the turn in the road he started looking for a way past the blockage. And it wasn’t hard to locate. Junior’s tires had dug a furrow that a girl scout could find.

  Ever mindful that he was in unfamiliar territory, he kept his eyes wide open. Something kept reminding him to stop before he went too far. He pulled down the trail much slower this time. But before he drove two dozen yards he stopped. The road seemed to dead-end into a rocky hill thirty yards ahead and the terrain around him was getting drastically steeper. “This seems like a good time to turn around and go for help.”

  Somewhere nearby was a killer with a twisted face and a twisted brain to match. And right now he was the only thing in this scenario that was out of place. He felt like a fish in a barrel, the worst place to be when the shooting starts. There were most likely clues right outside his vehicle but he wasn’t getting out. The longer he sat there pondering his situation the jumpier he got. He knew he was in danger, and he felt that he was being watched.

  ***