Conrad listened to every single detail and then focused his attention on Nate. “Sir, forgive me, I'm Conrad Spencer.”
“Amanda has told me about you,” Nate told Conrad and gave him a smile of approval. “Forgive this old man for not shaking your hand. My arms are a bit weak.”
Conrad walked over to Nate and took his right hand and shook it. “Always an honor,” he told Nate. “When you get back home you can cook me some of those good beans Amanda bragged to me about.”
“That'll be mighty fine,” Nate smiled. He saw goodness in Conrad – a goodness that soothed his tired heart. “I'm mighty grateful Sarah won't be going to the river alone, too. I was a whole lot worried about our girl here. Don't matter if this kid is nineteen or a hundred...a snake can strike at any age, and this kid has already struck twice.”
“Don Street killed a person he believed had murdered his father and then he killed Rebecca,” Sarah explained. “Conrad, his mother set him up to kill his first victim. I believe she did this to appease Don, in the hopes his urge for revenge would settle down afterward. But Don came up with another plan on his own, and it's this plan that's causing all these problems.” Sarah ran her hands through her hair with tired hands. “Right about now, I'm positive Don's mother is desperately trying to create another plan that will reel her son in from the dangerous tide he's swimming in. But Don isn't going to fall for false bait. He's determined to carry out his plan, Conrad.”
“This kid had our minds all tangled up last night,” Amanda admitted.
Sarah laughed wearily to herself. “We thought he fired blanks at Nate's truck...turns out he's just a really bad shot. We thought Rebecca's death was a warning to stay out of Los Angeles. Turns out Don was trying to scare me out of Prate...at least, that's how he saw it in his sick, twisted mind.” Sarah looked at Conrad. “We had a hard time figuring out Rebecca's location on the morning I called her, once we figured out she was found dead here the same day...it wasn't until today that we became aware we were slipping and sliding in the mess of a nineteen-year-old kid.”
“Sounds fun,” Conrad told Sarah.
“Tell that to Sheriff Bufford,” Nate piped up. “Poor guy is taking his wife and running as far away from Prate as his legs will carry him.”
“Don threatened Sheriff Bufford's wife last night,” Sarah explained. “He ordered Sheriff Bufford to chase me out of town, too. But Conrad, this is a small town and the sheriff isn't exactly one of the Hardy Boys. He slipped up this morning when Don sped past the courthouse in his BMW right after we arrived.”
“So it was the killer who forced the sheriff to spill the beans on your location, huh?” Conrad asked.
“Yes,” Sarah sighed. “Poor man...he was simply scared for his wife. I can't blame him for doing what Don ordered him, Conrad.”
“Guess no one can,” Conrad agreed and slowly slid his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket. “Well, there's no sense in standing around. We have a killer to catch, Detective Garland.”
“I know,” Sarah agreed. She looked at Nate. “We'll be back after Don Street is behind bars.”
“Or dead,” Nate pointed out.
“Or dead,” Sarah hugged Amanda. “Stay with him, June Bug.”
Amanda hugged Sarah and then hugged Conrad. “Take care of my girl,” she whispered.
“You bet,” Conrad whispered back and walked out of the room with Sarah. “Are you okay?”
“Just upset,” Sarah confessed as they hurried outside into the warm sunlight. “Conrad, Rebecca is dead. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around it. She died...horribly, at the hands of a nutcase. And I haven’t yet stopped chasing him long enough to mourn the loss of my friend.”
“I’m sure there will be time once this is all over, Sarah,” Conrad replied and pointed to his black rented SUV, parked in the small parking lot on the west side of the depressingly small one-story hospital. “But for now, focus on this kid. I admit, from what you told me, anticipating this kid's thoughts is like trying to talk to invisible dust bunnies. But that doesn't mean he's not deadly.”
Sarah looked around the parking lot. The hospital was surrounded by beautiful trees and lush flower beds – but even nature’s beauty couldn't distract her from the horrible events that had led to this day. “Kids today, Conrad...it's not like it was when we were growing up. Don found me because he tracked my cell phone...he's smart in that sense, but then he created a stupid plan that seemed concrete in his young mind. I guess I can deal with that...but I keep thinking...how many future Dons will there be in this world? What is society doing to our children? I managed to track down and capture the Back Alley Killer...an insane but very clever man...but a nineteen-year-old kid had me chasing my tail for the last couple days.”
Conrad walked Sarah over to the SUV. “Society is getting worse for our kids, that's for sure. The world is filled with criminals who prey on the innocent...there are social engineering programs disguised as media, movies, music and so on. It’s no wonder some parents are starting to object about the injection of poison vaccines into their children. How can you trust figures of authority anymore? There are immoral agendas on all sides that threaten to corrupt the minds of children...it's all out there, Sarah, and it's only getting worse.” Conrad shook his head. “While I was driving to this hospital from the airport, I heard some politician on the radio claim she wanted to abolish marriage because it enslaves women. Then I heard another politician state he wanted the government to raise America's children because traditional parental roles were no longer relevant.”
Sarah leaned against the back of the SUV and rubbed her eyes. “This world is decaying from the inside out,” she said and shook her head. “And all you and I can do right now is chase down a deadly kid who might get a few headlines in some papers before he’ll be forgotten.”
“That's about it,” Conrad agreed. Conrad folded his arms together. “Sarah, from everything you told me, I think this kid went off the rails after his old man was killed. I'm wondering if he saw the murder take place.”
“I've thought about that. I've even wondered if...Don killed his own father, somehow.”
“How so?” Conrad asked.
“Well,” Sarah said, walking her mind back into the darkened set filled with scary houses designed to be used in a horror movie. It was the set where she had been so many years ago for that fateful case. “Don's father was a stuntman, as you know.” Conrad nodded. “At the time of his death, he was practicing for a scene in which a man was strangled to death after becoming tangled up in the rope he was going to use to escape his attacker. The scene involved the man running across a roof, tripping over his feet, falling over the roof, and getting strangled to death.”
“Nice,” Conrad winced.
“That's Tinsel Town for you. The studios create awful violence on the big screen and then cry foul when violence happens in reality,” Sarah replied.
Conrad rubbed his chin. “Yeah,” he said and looked into Sarah's eyes. “So are you thinking this kid somehow caused his dad to slip up somehow and kill himself?”
“Maybe,” Sarah said. “Conrad, J&P Brothers had every employee at the studio clam up on me. At the time, I was leaning toward placing guilt on their shoulders, that the studio was simply guilty of being negligent and lax about safety precautions, but that never sat well in my gut. I always had the feeling that the real killer...might have gotten away. I couldn’t get anywhere with questioning because they had all been ordered to stay quiet, apparently. But when Don told me his mother had some form of power over J&P Brothers, that made me begin to wonder who really ordered everyone to clam up.”
“A mother trying to protect her son?
“Possibly,” Sarah explained and said, “And a mother who knows her son is mentally ill, too.”
“I see,” Conrad said and went silent for a minute. “And you said the person Don killed recently, the person he believed killed his old man, was nothing more than a fake rat given to a hungry snake.”
“I believe so. I believe Don’s mother set up the killing because she was hoping it would settle down Don's agitated mental state. Conrad, I believe Don is wrapped up in guilt and wants to…go back in time, as it were, in order to find peace. He wants the crime scene in its original form. With the original actors, including me.”
“The young boy is trapped in his mind and is trying to break free...instead the killer teenager is caught up in some ropes himself and about to fall off the roof.”
“Exactly,” Sarah said. “I think it's possible Don caused his father's death and that caused him to go insane. I think his mother found out the truth and protected her son. But through the years, Don's mental state grew worse and worse, finally forcing his mother to create false killer and hand that person over to her son hoping to calm him down. What she didn't know was that Don was working on a plan of his own.”
“The boy wants to transfer guilt onto another innocent dead man, thinking it will set his mind free.”
“Yes,” Sarah said. “And in order to do so he needs everything, the complete scene, to be exactly the way it once was.”
Conrad rubbed the back of his neck. “Well,” he said and looked up at the sky, “day is getting late. We better start riding and talk on the way.”
Sarah pulled out her gun and checked it. “Don killed Rebecca, Conrad. He has to face justice.”
Conrad watched Sarah put her gun away. He could see that the case was weighing heavy on Sarah's heart. “Are you okay? Really, are you okay?”
“I just keep thinking...what if I hadn’t allowed the murder of Don's father to be tossed into the cold case files? What would have happened if I hadn’t just...given up?” Sarah asked in a guilty voice. “Rebecca would still be alive.”
Conrad put a gentle hand on Sarah's troubled shoulder. “Sarah, we're only human,” he told her. “Back home in Alaska, people are eating at the diner and watching Jeopardy while in New York somebody is probably committing a serious crime as we speak. All we can do is our job.”
“If I had done my job in the first place we wouldn't be in this mess,” Sarah replied and walked around the passenger’s side door and climbed into the SUV.
The river was wide, beautiful and very inviting in the late spring twilight. The riverbank was lined with healthy, lovely trees, their branches hanging over the river in the lazy dappled light of the sunset. In certain places, the river flowed very deep, while in others you could see a muddy bottom. Some areas of the river had powerful, fast currents while other areas flowed smooth and easy without a care in the world. “I could pitch a tent, start a campfire, roast some hot dogs, and then go fishing all night,” Conrad told Sarah looking at the river as he walked past a tall tree. “This would make a great fishing spot, too.”
Sarah paused. Darkness was falling, casting shadows down onto the river. Despite the grave mission that brought them to the river’s bank, the shadows weren't ominous. Instead, Sarah felt that the falling shadows were old voices mingling together, talking about the day while they tucked themselves into the waters of the river. “It’s very peaceful,” she said and looked at Conrad. “Can I confess something to you?”
“Sure.”
“I keep thinking about that deserted cabin where we buried Milton's father,” Sarah told Conrad. “I don't really understand why. The cabin is really far away from town and very lonely. Yet, I keep feeling drawn to it.”
“Really?” Conrad asked in a strange voice. Sarah nodded. Conrad leaned against a tree and looked at the river. “Can I make a confession?”
“Okay.”
“I've been thinking about that cabin, too...a lot, as a matter of fact,” Conrad confessed. “I actually decided to make a hiking trip back to the cabin next week on my day off.”
“Really?” Sarah asked, amazed.
“I'm telling you the truth,” Conrad promised. “I have felt...connected to that old cabin for some strange reason. It was like...well, this may sound stupid...but it was like...I belonged with it, somehow.”
Sarah stared at Conrad with wide eyes. “Me, too,” she said. “I felt like I needed to go back to that cabin for some reason...and bring life back to it. Oh, I'm not saying I want to live there by any means. But, I want to...call it home, too.”
Conrad reached down, grabbed a small pebble and tossed it into the river. “I know what you mean,” he said. “Maybe when we get home you and I can take that hike to the cabin together, huh?”
“Sounds good,” Sarah agreed, her heart happy at the prospect. She looked around. “According to Nate's directions, we're not too far away from the cave.”
Conrad nodded. “About how far?”
“Maybe...half a mile?”
“Okay then,” Conrad said, “this is where we split up. I'll follow you and keep out of sight.”
Sarah didn't want to leave Conrad but she knew the time had come to split up. “Okay,” she said and pulled her cell phone from the front pocket of her dress. “Don hasn't tried to call me yet. He's most likely waiting until it turns night. We better hurry.”
Conrad pulled out his gun. “I'm not going to hesitate to take the shot if the situation calls for it,” he informed Sarah. “Your job is to find the hostage.”
“Indeed I will,” Sarah promised Conrad and pointed down the river and had started walking when her cell phone began to vibrate. She checked the incoming call and felt a flood of relief. “It's Pete. I better take this.”
Conrad looked around. “Okay,” he agreed.
Sarah answered the call. “Pete?”
“Hey kid,” Pete said. “I've been talking with Bonnie Street.”
“Don's mother?”
“Yep,” Pete said and tossed a half-chewed cigar into the corner of his mouth. “I brought her in for questioning and really placed the iron glove on her.”
“What was the outcome?” Sarah asked.
“Woman broke down like a sugar cube in hot water when I mentioned the death of your friend Rebecca and what the autopsy report revealed. She broke down even more after I told her everything her son had thrown at you...about her finding his old man's real killer...about sending her the names of the people on your contact list...I really laid the guilt on the thick.”
“And?” Sarah asked.
“Well,” Pete said and chewed on his cigar, “the woman began insisting that she had nothing to do with her son's actions,” Pete explained. “Bonnie Street claimed she knew nothing about what her son was doing. She insisted she didn't find her husband's real killer and that Don was lying through his teeth.”
“But she's the one lying through her teeth.”'
“You better bet your lunch on that,” Pete grinned. “And speaking of, I'm hungry for some Chinese food.”
“Later with the food, Pete,” Sarah pleaded.
“Tell that to my stomach,” Pete grunted. “Anyway, I'm holding Bonnie Street in custody right now until our guys can go over and check J&P Brothers.”
“Expect resistance.”
“Not this time,” Pete said in an easy voice. “The old J&P Brothers themselves gave me a call and offered their full cooperation. It seems, kid, that this time around they aren't interested in letting a woman who's been rigging their books blackmail them again.”
“Oh, so that's what Bonnie Smart has over them,” Sarah said.
“Her official title is Secretary but her job was to rig the books,” Pete confirmed. “Also, and you're gonna love this, kid, the brothers themselves are willing to testify in court that Bonnie Street has been blackmailing them all these years.”
“That will definitely break her,” Sarah said and then she an idea came to her mind. “Pete, I just had an idea. I'm close to the cave where we believe Don is holding Mr. Rhodes, the hostage. Conrad is with me.”
“That's good,” Pete said, relieved that Sarah wasn't alone. It wasn't that he was worried Sarah couldn't handle herself alone, because she was fully capable of tackling a grizzly if the situation called for it—it was just th
at backup never hurt and Conrad Spencer had a good reputation as a cop.
“Listen, Pete, have Bonnie Street call her son and inform him that she's been arrested and is confessing to everything, the whole nine yard, the works. That will surely blow Don's plan to pieces and force him to realize that he's failed.”
“I'm listening,” Pete said
“Make sure to tell Bonnie Street to mention that the J&P Brothers are going to testify in court against her,” Sarah continued.
“Can do, but why do you want to push that punk over the edge when there’s a hostage at stake?”
“I want to send him into panic mode,” Sarah explained. “Don doesn't know Conrad is lurking out here with me. If I can cause him to panic, maybe, just maybe, he'll run and leave Mr. Rhodes behind and Conrad and I can snatch him outside of the cave instead of having to force our way inside.”
Pete considered Sarah's suggestion. “Well, it's worth a shot,” he finally said. “I'll go talk with Bonnie Street and get her on the horn to her son.”
“Give me a good ten minutes before she makes the call,” Sarah said.
“Okay, kid,” Pete said. “We're down to the wire on this case. My end is secure, now get your butt in gear and secure your end.”
“Will do,” Sarah said and ended the call. “Conrad, we have to hurry.”
“Looks like we don't need to split up after all,” Conrad said and hurried away with Sarah as the last light of day slowly slipped away. “Your plan is risky,” he whispered, keeping his feet stealthy and away from branches that might snap and give away their location. “But it’s good. I was worried about how you were going to draw Don out of the cave, assuming he's hiding in there.”
“Me, too,” Sarah confessed. “According to Nate, the cave has only one entrance and that makes it very difficult for us to get in and out unseen and unheard.”
“Yep,” Conrad said and continued toward the cave with Sarah and came to a stop when he spotted the gray BMW parked under a tree on a narrow dirt lane that looked like it led back to the main road. The BMW was under a tree and well hidden. Conrad bent down behind a tree and studied the area. “There,” he said and pointed to a bunch of broken tree limbs covering the mouth of a small cave.
Chasing Shadows Page 11