by Nenny May
“Don't think too much about the offer, you have until noon on Friday next week to decide or I kill him before my flight out of this shitty city." He menacingly added after a beat.
"Please!" Madison begged just as a stray tear ran down her cheek.
"Begging will get you nowhere. Now get rid of the body." He turned away from her, and then added. "If you attack me or follow me, I will kill the both of you." He continued towards the boy, easing him off the bench and farther away from her. She should have called Adam when she had the chance.
. . .
She was off base... No, not off base, she'd completely struck out! She was supposed to talk to this... this lunatic and reach a deal, and now what? She had a dead body, a ten-year-old boy still at large and a confirmation that he was indeed with the same man responsible for the kidnap and murder of the ten ten-year-old boys. What exactly had she been thinking walking into this? That someone unstable enough to murder children would listen to her? Pftt! Pathetic! She'd thought that meeting him, she would negotiate a lighter sentence and he would return the boy, hadn't that been what she and Adam organized? That was the plan! He was supposed to get immunity for the deaths and go down for the kidnapping. She'd forgotten all of that when push came to shove.
As for the body of the deceased cab driver, she didn't want to dispose of it. Heck, she didn't even know how! She felt helpless, trapped while a gale raged around her. But she knew two things; one, she couldn't be caught with the body, not while she was wanted by the FBI. And two, she couldn't just leave him there for someone else to find... What if an investigation was carried out and her fingerprints were found in his car? All hopes of slipping out of this situation with very little jail-time will be a thing of the past. Peeking through the window of the car, she felt sick to her stomach, nauseous, queasy and in every way uneasy. Sat before her, now pooled in his own blood was the Latina man she'd ridden with, the grumpy cab driver who merely wanted to make ends meet. She didn't know him, not personally, but now she was standing by his pale, limp corpse wondering just what to do. Alexander Hemmings wanted the man's body done away with and she didn't want to get on his bad side. But was it worth getting on the wrong side of the law? Yes! She didn't need to think too much about it, it was worth it; after all, the life of a ten-year-old boy was on the line, potentially Alexander Hemmings next and final victim.
But then how would turning herself in bring the police any closer to solving this case? And what if getting rid of this body would further stump the authorities? She was running out of time and it was clear she couldn't do this alone. So, with trembling hands, she'd pulled out her phone and done what she should have done before running headfirst into this meeting, she called Adam Walker and boy was she relived to hear his voice.
Almost as if his; "Hello?" Had pulled her out of her rampant thoughts. On restless feet that carried her further into the bushes that lined the street, and a voice that had dropped to a hushed whisper as the wails of the night crawlers filled the air, she pleaded... begged for his help.
"There's a body by Chiswick road, just outside Cotswold Elementary by the playground... a dead body and I need to get rid of it."
"I don't have much time to explain, but I didn't do it!" She found herself frantic. The last thing she needed was him turning on her.
"I don't know what we're going to need but I think a rug, some tape... or ropes and kerosene?" When he didn't respond, she added; "Never mind, we'll just dump him in the lake!" He still hadn't responded. "Please say something!" She could hear it loudly, so loudly at first it had startled her, her own heart thundering in her chest.
"Gates is around the corner, he'll be with you in ten. Don't move and don't get caught." Easy, so all she had to do was not move from the crime scene and not get caught by the crime scene. She was most certainly screwed!
With the phone line as dead as the Latina cab driver, Madison Miller took it upon herself to do what she did best, contradict orders and follow her gut. Sincerely, how much more trouble could she get into? She set off further into the bushes. She'd continued further, glad to be completely out of sight of any wandering FBI agent or pedestrian that might just jog up with a dog and find her by the body. What would she do then? Shed crocodile tears? Seem frantic? What would be her alibi? With each crunch of an isolated twig beneath her feet, she felt more and more alone. Not just in the dense bushes that now that she thought about it was crawling with mosquitoes and bugs, but she felt alone in this case, in her decision. Was she really going to turn herself in? At best she would be looking at a death sentence, or life in prison with no option of fine or at the very least, she could beat down her sentence to eighty years on appeal. But then what? The man behind the murders would roam free? The police would close the case and deem it dismissed? But then a frightened child, a child much lick Tucker will be returned to the waiting arms of his mother.
No, she couldn't turn herself in, not until she'd spoken to detective Ryan Gates and Adam Walker. They're officers that were on her side. They would know what to do, they had to! And when they thought about that boy, Ethan Daniels whose mother had probably made more press briefings than she'd emotionally been prepared to, both men would know what to tell Madison. She couldn't forget when Tucker had been kidnapped how she'd poured her heart to the media beckoning anyone to come forward with her son. At the time she'd been a frightened young mother who just wanted her son back. And she hadn't had the time to catch up with the Daniels or with the news, but she was sure Lauren and Parker had taken to T.V. screens to plead for the return of their son.
She hadn't wandered too far when her phone blared in her pocket, if she thought her heart couldn't gallop any faster, she was wrong. With hands that shook worse than a cold Chihuahua, she pulled out her phone and swiped to answer the unregistered number. "I'm here where are you?"
Gates! He was fast, and Madison Miller was lost, somewhere in a dense bush. What turns had she taken? Did she fork left by the leaning pine tree? Or right? Backwards wouldn't she have to take the opposite? This, this is why she ought not defy clear simple orders. She had to find detective Ryan Gates, she had to know what the plan was, because it clear she couldn't handle matters on her own. But gosh did she have questions for Hemmings, like why did he need her in particular to take the fall for his crimes? And where in heavens name had he gotten her number from? She wanted to believe that morning Lauren had called, she'd left Madison's number sketched somewhere, somewhere open to anyone waltzing through her home, if not did that mean Hemmings had been targeting specifically Madison? Nah! "Where are you?" Ryan Gates asked again.
"In the bushes by the street... I don't exactly know where I am but we can bury the body here!"
"What body?" He hadn't noticed the deceased Latina cab driver's body. Was that good? Did that mean other officers wouldn't pay too much attention to it at least until it began to rut?
"There's cab in the area. The driver, he's dead." Gates cursed, not once, not twice, but three times. "I didn't do it... Well, I'm sort of the reason this poor man is dead... but I swear on my dear Momma's life that I didn't shoot this man!"
"Madison there are officers patrolling this entire bloody area for you and you're telling me you caused a shooting?" Through the line she could hear his footsteps; he'd probably taken into the bushes to look for her. "Don't move a muscle, I'm coming to get you I have a safe house on the outskirts of town where you are going to be until Walker and I can rope this deranged madcap."
"That's precisely the problem; I can't lie low until this whole thing blows over."
"And why the hell not?" He sounded winded. "Look I'm not Walker I don't have feelings for you that would make me want to keep you around, you're getting in the way of this investigation and the best I can do is keep you from causing any more damage to yourself and this case."
"I met the killer, Ryan! I saw Ethan. I am not getting in the way of this investigation; I didn't choose to get hauled smack dab in the middle of it! I can't go away because I ne
ed to turn myself in so that boy can be returned to his mother."
. . .
She'd heard of the butterfly-effect; a butterfly would flap its wings and somewhere at the other end of the world, a hurricane would rage. She couldn't help feeling like sitting helpless on the passenger's side of detective Ryan Gates state issued cop car while the bloody cab of the Latina cab man was towed along, she were flapping her wings and somewhere at the other end of town, a hurricane was erupting. At this time, perhaps his family were pushed to the wall with concern. After all, it was just a little past midnight. 12:09 A.M. to be specific. Maybe he had a wife and kids and they’d called his cell phone more than a dozen times? Maybe they’d begun questioning their neighbours? Sincerely, what would the poor man’s family going to think when they found his body washed up at somewhere at the shores of Briar's Creek? And his cab? How in the world were Madison and Ryan going to get rid of it? It sure as hell wouldn't sink to the bottom quick enough.
Initially, she'd thought of Gate's plan as completely out of it; smashing the windscreen of the entire cab as well as the bumper and then tugging the limp lifeless carcass into the floor of the back seat, what had he been thinking? And even still she hadn't disputed. No, she’d watched; it wasn't like she had a better idea. "Explain to me again why you need to turn yourself in—you sure as hell won't, but why do you have to?" She turned to him from where her eyes had been trailing the Krispy Kreme, Chick-Fil-A and Smashburger buildings that lined Randolph Road as they breezed along. Ryan Gates rode the streets with a calmness, his eyes only for a second peeling from the road to meet hers.
"Ethan... Lauren... Parker..." She nibbled on her bottom lip. "When I lost my son, I was willing to do anything to get him back before something happened to him. I can only assume that’s what those parents; Lauren and Parker Daniels must be going through... and what’s worse is Lauren once told me something... Something I should have taken into consideration before taking up her babysitting offer...” Madison trailed off, just for a moment. She recalled when they’d first met, when the young mother had recently moved in down the streets with her aloof husband. At the time Madison had thought; Yes! A woman her age, a woman she could relate with. So they’d talked, not a lot, but it was something.
“What did she tell you?” Detective Ryan Gates asked when it was clear Madison had gotten lost amidst her thoughts.
“Lauren couldn’t have another kid—she’d struggled and prayed for years before she had Ethan—I can’t just be the reason she’s no longer a mother.” Almost on impulse, her eyes filled with a shimmer.
“There’s got to be another way.”
“And on top of that, in Tucker’s case when he’d been taken, I couldn't just imagine the fear he'd felt without me... He must have been cold my poor baby, hungry, lonely and in so much pain... And when I looked at Ethan today, I saw a little bit of that, just what he could let me see. And I knew I had to do whatever Hemmings wanted."
"Wait, wait, wait... Hemmings?" His eyes swerved from the road to hers.
"Alexander Hemmings."
"You mean to tell me the janitor at my precinct is responsible for the murder of the ten ten-year old boys?" She blinked, at the same time a tear rolled down. She didn't know too much about Hemmings or even if he were the right person, she'd merely carried along the impression Adam Walker had given her. And he'd seemed convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Alexander Hemmings was responsible for the murders and she'd met with a man she'd only believed was Hemmings. "You do know if I pour the states resources into investigating this crook and he turns out to be the wrong person, your ass is going to be in deeper shit, right?" She bit her lip further. She didn't know anything anymore. “Hell, both our asses are going to be in shit.”
For the longest time, they'd ridden in silence along Wendover Road, until he'd said; "Continue, what exactly did this man, Hemmings, want you to do?"
"Turn myself in... before noon on Friday next week or he'll kill Ethan and leave Charlotte." The silence continued on along Sharon Road and Runnymed Lane. By the sharp right into Colony road, she'd rippled the silence. "Look into Hemmings, he's our only lead and even if we get the wrong guy, we tried and that boy could have more of a chance at freedom because I don't even know if Hemmings will keep up his end of the bargain after I'm charged."
"I take it his end of the bargain is returning Ethan to his family." Ryan Gates mumbled just as a light flashed before his eyes. He slammed on the brakes bringing the car to a sudden halt and the towed cab smashing into his rear. The impact sent his car jolting forward, slightly but with enough force to shove him against his seatbelt. For the love of God! Could this night get any worse? Thought a grumpy Ryan Gates. He turned to the lone patrol officer whose waste line seemed to be stretching the lining of his pants a little too far. The chubby man did away with the flash light he’d shimmered in Gates eyes.
"A fellow member of the force!" Chimed the trouper. "And where might you be headed sir?" Madison Miller couldn't hide it, the cold sweat that broke out. She felt like that time she'd been pulled over at sixteen after her junior prom for driving under the influence. She'd denied it flat, and even still she'd been tugged along to a holding cell. She doubted it would be a holding cell she would be taken to when they found the body in the backseat with a bullet hole to his head. Holy fuck biscuits!
"On our way home at Picardy good sir, my wife here was just in an accident completing her last ride of the night and needed me to come get her." The lone trouper leaned further, eyes running over Madison, he seemed sceptical. "I would love to sit and chat sir, but she's pretty shaken up, so if you don't mind..." Gates leaned the car forward. The trouper patted his hands over the roof of the car almost insinuating Gate's shouldn't move a muscle.
"Try to stay safe ya'll Charlotte isn't that safe a place anymore, especially with the murders going around and I know that it's not our jurisdiction no more, but golly do I wish we could do something to these damn killers!" The trouper rambled on.
"What do you mean killers?" Ryan Gates frowned. Madison was sure this time her heart was going to kill her. This clearly wasn't the time for small talk; they had a body to get rid of!
"Over at Cotswold a few hours ago, there were complaints of a disturbance; a gunshot going off. Although I don't know what precinct you serve, but Providence Division was pretty laid back on their response to the complaints, kind of out of character since they've had their eyes out for the alleged woman responsible for the missing Daniels kid." She hadn't been able to stop it, the thick, chunky green vomit that spilled from her lips, momentarily choking her as she leaned to direct the spray onto the floor, a useless attempt since it spilled along the dashboard, her clothes and shoes and the floor of the cop car. "Fuck!" Gates screamed. He turned to the trouper. "It was real nice chatting up..." His eyes ran over the troupers name tag. Philip. "Officer Philip, but I really need to get my wife home, she really is in shock." With his face scrunched up, the officer gave them the go ahead to drive along home. Ryan Gates hadn't heard it immediately, after all, for a while through the lone Colony Road he'd listened to only her dry heaving, or what he hoped was just dry heaving. But when he'd heard the soft sob that further sent trembles rolling through her, he felt his heart soften, just as he'd pulled to a stop over Briar Creek where the waves surfed at a pace that would defiantly carry the body of the Latina cab man, not too far, but at least far enough and with enough force that if his body did wash up, forensics would be stumped with no clues as to who was responsible for disposing the body.
"It's going to get better." It wasn't a promise, it wasn't even an assurance, but he sure as hell hoped it got her into ship enough shape to help him log the cab man's body from his back seat.
"No, it's not!" She shook her head. God damn it! This was not the place for a damn hysteria. "That boy is suffering because of my shitty luck with children, he's probably going to be traumatized his entire life and even though I get him back, I have to live with that guilt! I'm going to go to
jail for being an accomplice to a murder among other fucking crimes I've committed since I took up that damn babysitting job that morning!"
"Look Madison, I don't know what to tell you right now, so I'm going to be honest. We have a body to throw into the creek, a shitty plan that is going to get my ass hauled to prison as well, okay? So before we settle with the realisation that we are all going to prison, we should get rid of this body. And soon because I don't think Philip is going to sit for too long before he patrols the area again." With a bitter gulp that nearly had her gagging once more, she nodded and cracked open her door climbing out into the bracing morning breeze. The creek cried loudly almost washing away her thoughts. Carelessly, she strolled to the metal rails. They still had a bit of a walk, but not too much from over the rails. She returned to Ryan Gates who'd flung open the back door of the cop car and had the swollen Latina cab man by his shoulders. In the haze of the night she couldn't see him all too clearly, but he seemed blue-ish and that didn't sit well with her, because when she'd seen her son three days after his kidnap he'd been swollen and blue. She'd let Ryan shimmy the man further out of the car before she grabbed him by his large bare ankles.
Together they'd inched towards the rails when Ryan Gates suggested they merely toss the man over and climb over and continue on towards the creek. She complied, not necessarily thinking too much about what she was doing, but rather replaying the pleading look in Ethan Daniels eyes. Had Tucker had someone to look pleadingly at? Had he just been brutally killed with no hope of survival? Could she let another kid go through that? No! Ethan needed her. And whatever dreams she'd had to work as lead reporter for the WCCB again or at the very least weather woman for Fox26, she could kiss them goodbye, because that ten-year-old boys life mattered more than any dream she could have for herself. "Madison, please focus!" Whispered Gates, her eyes met his. "Gather some really heavy rocks from the trees we're going to fill his pockets so he has a better chance of staying submerged under the water." Nodding she released the man's cold ankles and returned to the trees by the rails. Any hopes of finding giant rocks seemed nearly impossible with a ground filled with pebbles and stones and she was going to have to carry the entire ground of stones if she wanted to hold the bloated cab man. "We don't exactly have all day Miller!" Running her hands through her hair, she ran her eyes over floor, a small smile ghosting her lips when they landed on a gathering of rocks that seemed too heavy for her to lift. One by one, she carried them to an impatient Ryan who shoved and shoved them into the dead man's pants pockets. They could barely carry him at this point and so, they dragged him the remaining way groaning into the night, his thick form tugging a trail in the moist ground. By the water’s edge, both Madison and Ryan had stopped for a breath. Once more with a heart thundering in her ears and a bitter taste on her lips, she looked at the body. He didn’t deserve this, the wicked currents running over his body, filling his nose and parted purple lips. He deserved a proper funeral with his family gathered lovingly to put him to rest... Madison couldn’t give him that; if the situation were any different she would have at least tried to give him what he deserved. So for now, this was all he was going to get, a place beneath Briar Creek.