As he walked outside and towards his car, Kent Perry kept ranting to himself. “I’m gonna get you Maxwell. I don’t know when or where, but you’re mine.”
He unlocked the door to his car and slid inside. Damn was he pissed. He started the car and revved it in short bursts until the tachometer hit 4,000 RPMs. Dropping it into gear, Kent floored the car and exited the parking lot. If the people staring could see through the smoke, they would have seen his car go sideways and correct into a series of fishtails until he got the car back under control. Kent headed towards his office. It was time to take care of business. He didn’t know how he was going to find Dom, or when, but he would find him. Either that, or die trying.
CHAPTER TWENTY
As Dom and Jenny pulled into Prescott, they passed a police car going the opposite direction. He wasn’t paying attention. Dom knew their luck would not hold out that long. As they drove towards the other end of town, an obvious idea struck him. The only problem was the time factor. Without warning, he turned off the main street and into a residential neighborhood. He decided he was going to try it.
“What in the heck are you doing? We don’t have time for a scenic drive.”
Dom informed her of his idea to try and pick up another vehicle.
“Well, we can’t steal one, or they’ll be all over us,” Jenny said. “Why don’t we go to a dealership?”
“That would leave a paper trail that we can’t afford,” he said. “We need a private party and we don’t have time to check out ads in the paper. I’m hoping we’ll drive by someone’s house that has a car with a ‘For Sale’ sign on it. We can’t afford to get picky now.”
Jenny reluctantly agreed. As they drove down street after street, they saw nothing but a car so old, Dom was afraid it wouldn’t make it to the end of the block. Just as they were about to give up, Jenny spotted it.
“Dom,” she yelled. “Over there!”
He looked in the direction she was pointing and saw it. A late model Nissan Altima. It wasn’t his idea of the perfect vehicle, but it was for sale, looked to be in good shape, and was inconspicuous. He drove to the end of the block.
“Okay Jenny, here is what I want you to do. I want you to take the Jeep and go back to that shopping center just up the street that we passed earlier. Park in the middle of a bunch of cars and wait for me. If I’m not there in twenty minutes, drive back here and look for me. I don’t want this guy to see you or the Jeep, okay?
Jenny nodded and Dom gave her a quick kiss before he got out. He reached under the seat and grabbed a wad of bills.
“I hope cash talks,” he said.
Sliding over into the driver’s seat, Jenny pulled away.
He watched her as she pulled onto the main street. Approaching the house, Dom went up to the door and knocked. No one answered. He knocked again. Still no answer.
“Shit,” he muttered under his breath. As he knocked a third time, a car came down the street and pulled into the driveway next door. An older black man got out. Looking away, Dom knocked again.
“They ain’t home,” the neighbor called across the hedges. “Is there anything I can help you with?”
“No,” Dom replied. “I was just interested in the car they have for sale.”
“Oh well, that’s a shame, it is,” the neighbor said. “You missed them by a few hours. They went off on a vacation this morning.”
“Just my luck!” Dom said. “Thanks for your help.” As he began to walk off, the man called after him.
“Hey Mister, you wouldn’t be interested in buying my car now, would you be?”
Dom slowly turned around. “That car?” he asked, pointing.
“Yes, Sir,” the man replied.
Dom walked over to the man’s yard. Looking at the car for the first time, he noticed it was a Cadillac, made sometime in the late eighties and was light brown in color.
“How does it run?” Dom asked.
“She’s in one hundred percent tip top shape if I do say so myself,” the man replied. “I take care of her like she’s one of the family, I do.”
“How much?” Dom asked.
“Three thousand dollars and she’s yours,” the man replied.
Dom couldn’t help but ask. “If she’s one of the family, why would you want to get rid of her?”
The man lowered his head and spoke softly. “Well, you see, Sir, if I don’t come up with three thousand dollars by tomorrow, I will lose this house that we’ve lived in for twenty-two years. I lost my job last year and haven’t been able to find much work. We’ve pretty much depleted our savings. I hate to give the car up, but my family can’t sleep on the street. Will you buy her and give her a good home, Mister?”
Dom was touched. He had wanted to offer the man two thousand for the car since it was older, but not after hearing the man’s story.
“I’ll buy it for three thousand dollars cash right now under two conditions,” Dom said.
“Bless you, Mister. What’s your conditions?”
“That you take the money, give me the car, and keep the title for her in your name until I come back and contact you for it.”
“And…?” the man asked.
“That you forget you ever saw me today. Don’t say anything to your friends, your family, or anyone. If you should ever be contacted by the police about your car and asked questions about it, just say you sold it to someone, and after paying, the person ran off without getting the title. But under no circumstances should you volunteer this information to anyone unless asked by the police. Understand?”
The man nodded. “God be with you and thank you.”
“No, thank YOU,” Dom said.
Pulling out the money, Dom peeled off thirty-five hundred dollars and handed it to the man.
“There’s an extra five hundred in there to help out a little bit with other things. I’ll contact you in a couple of weeks for the title.”
“God bless you,” the man said again, handing Dom the keys.
As Dom started the car and backed out of the driveway, the man waved. Dom knew deep in his heart that this man would not betray him. After backing on to the street, he shifted the car into drive and pushed on the gas pedal. The car took off.
“Damn! Nice power!” Dom said.
When he arrived at the shopping center, he knew Jenny would be worried and he hoped that she had not left already. It had been twenty-five minutes. He drove up and down the rows looking for the Jeep. He could not find her. Finally, down the last row, there she was. Dom parked beside her. She paid no attention to him, because it was not the car she was looking for. Dom saw Jenny look at her watch. He rolled down the window and yelled.
“Hey!” he said and watched as Jenny jumped. She swung her head around with a confused look on her face and then finally realized it was him.
“Where’s the Altima?” she asked, getting out of the Jeep.
“It’s a long story!” he said. “I’ll tell you on the road. Sorry it took so long.”
Jenny smiled slightly. “I was getting really worried about you, but I decided to give you a few more minutes.”
“I’m glad you did or I probably would have missed you.” Dom got out and popped the trunk. “Jeez! You could fit three bodies in there,” he said.
Together, the two of them unloaded the Jeep’s contents into the trunk. Dom took the scanner out of the Jeep and plugged it into the cigarette lighter of the Cadillac. After the Jeep was cleared out, he took everything out of the glove box and grabbed the money from under the seat. Stashing the money in the Caddy, Dom was about to get in, but hesitated. As an afterthought, he returned to the trunk and rummaged around. Finally he removed his head from the trunk with a triumphant “HA!” as he held up a screwdriver.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Just watch,” he replied. Going to the back of the Jeep, he took the license plate off. Then he popped the hood on the Jeep and took the coil wire out and shut the hood. Jenny was already in the Cadillac waiti
ng for him.
“What are you doing?” she repeated.
“Well,” he replied, “I took the coil wire off so no one will hopefully steal the Jeep, and I took the plate off so that if they find it here, they won’t be able to trace it back to the last owner as fast. In turn, they won’t know if it was the Jeep we were driving. At least for a while. That way, they will still be looking for a Jeep with us in it. While it may not help any, it’s just a precautionary move.”
“Oh,” Jenny said. “Are we just leaving the Jeep here?”
“It’s the fastest way and it will be more inconspicuous with all of the other cars around here. If we abandon it in the boonies somewhere, they will know it’s ours for sure when they find it.”
“Good point,” she said.
Dom started the car and took off. “Hungry?” he asked.
“Famished!” she replied.
He pulled through a Burger King and while they were waiting for their food in the drive-thru, he told her about the car.
“Well what a sweetie you are,” she said. “So do you think this man will keep our secret?”
“I’m ninety-nine percent positive,” he returned. “And do you know what I want to do when this is all over?”
“I have no idea,” she said. “What?”
“Take the car back and give it to him.”
“For free?” she asked.
“For free!”
“You really are a sweetie!” she said, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek.
“You rub off on me,” he said.
Jenny smiled. It was the first one he had seen in many hours.
“By the way, Jenny, was there anything on the scanner while I was buying that car?” Dom asked.
“A lot of talk about us, but nothing concrete about where we are or anything. Just the same, we need to get as far away from here as possible. It was a good idea getting another vehicle. It’s going to make it a little easier to breathe.”
“That’s what we need,” Dom replied. “We’re going to be okay.”
After getting their food from the drive-thru window, Dom and Jenny ate while they drove in silence. She occasionally told him where to turn. The road she directed him on was definitely not a fast super highway. It was a curvy, windy, back road. Just what they needed.
As the day progressed, they made their way through Wickenburg and into Peoria. Dom pulled into a motel parking lot and parked.
“I think we should get a room for the rest of the day and rest up. Hopefully during that time we can come up with a game plan,” Dom offered. “Then we can get busy putting our plan into action under the cover of night. We’re only twenty minutes away from the hospital.”
“But won’t they need some ID here, and isn’t that dangerous?” Jenny asked.
“Well, here is the deal,” Dom said. “Maybe and yes! But last time that a friend of mine stayed in this motel, they never asked for identification from him. Whether they do now or not, I don’t know. Here’s the plan. I’m wanted for attempted murder. You’re not. You go in, get the room, try not to show ID if at all possible, pay cash, and even if you do have to show ID, it shouldn’t be a problem. Just pay for one person and say you are alone. I’ll sneak in the room after you pay.”
“Okay,” Jenny said, and got out of the car. He waited while she went inside and stayed slumped down in the seat. Five minutes later, she came back out with a room key. After getting into the car, she started it and drove towards the room.
“Guess what?” she said. “No ID.”
“Awesome!” he replied.
Jenny parked the car and they entered the room and looked around. “Nice, for a motel!” she said.
Dom nodded. After freshening up, the two of them sat down on the bed and discussed the situation. After two long hours, they still hadn’t come up with a plan.
“What are we going to do?” she asked.
“I really don’t know, Jenny. I don’t know anything right now.”
“So now what?”
“Just let me rest a little bit and clear my head. We will figure it out,” he replied, and with that, he laid back on the bed and shut his eyes.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Kent Perry sat at his desk, staring into space. He was at a dead end. He had the information he needed to arrest Dominick Maxwell, but he couldn’t find him. He knew Maxwell was in the Chino Valley area, but he had the feeling that if he drove up there, he would never locate him. Pondering the whole situation, he could not figure out what the girl had to do with anything. Was she an innocent companion, a future victim, or an accomplice?
He had to think. What would Dominick Maxwell’s next move be? Something told him that Dom wouldn’t keep running farther away, otherwise he would be in another state by now. Instead, he was only a hundred miles away. He was hanging close for a reason. Kent could not think what that reason might be.
Picking up the phone, Kent called Pete Stamsford.
“Pete, this is Kent. Got anything new?”
“Well, you could call it new, but not exciting or important. Jennifer Capstan has a very clean record. The only thing associated with her is a speeding ticket. Nothing else, not even shoplifting, shows on her record.”
“I was afraid you were going to say that,” Kent said. “Have you found anything else on Maxwell?”
“Nothing at all,” Pete replied.
Kent let out a sigh of distress. He filled Pete in on all of the developments from that afternoon. Pete was shocked.
“So it really was him,” Pete said.
“Yeah, and not only that, I found something that will knock your socks off,” Kent said. “Meet me in my office in three hours and I’ll show you what I have.”
Pete agreed and Kent hung up the phone. Lighting up a cigarette, he went back down to his car and popped the trunk. He had almost forgotten about the photo album in his anger. Grabbing it, he got in his car and drove to a building downtown that housed all of the records he would be looking for.
Kent spent about two hours there making notes of things and photocopying birth and death certificates. On the way back, he had a dispatcher find a phone number for him and patch him through. Kent had quite an interesting phone conversation during the trip back to the department.
Pete was sitting on the edge of his desk when he got back.
“What have we here?” Pete asked.
Kent sat down at the desk and threw the book down in front of Pete.
“Go ahead, open it!”
Pete flipped open the cover of the album. There was a newspaper article cut out with the headline, “Car Crash Kills Two.” Pete went on to read the story. When he finished, he looked up.
“Maxwell’s parents?”
Kent nodded. “Go ahead, flip the page.”
Pete continued and saw the next newspaper article that had been cut out. “Man Dies in Freak Hunting Accident.” He read the article and again looked up at Kent.
“He has the same last name. How is he related to Maxwell?”
“That was his brother,” Kent said.
“Interesting,” Pete responded, looking deep in thought.
“It gets better,” Kent said. “Keep reading.”
Pete flipped over to the next page and found an article about a lady named Iris Reilly. She had been killed by a hit and run driver while she was crossing a street.
“That was Maxwell’s high school English teacher,” Kent said.
Pete’s eyebrows lowered and his forehead bunched up into wrinkles as a puzzled look crossed his face. Kent could tell that Pete was beginning to see what he had seen earlier while looking through the album.
“This was never solved?” Pete asked.
“Nope!” Kent replied. “It turned out to be a stolen car and there was no description of the driver.”
Pete turned the page again. The next article was about a lady that went to sleep one night and never woke up. They claimed she died of natural causes.
“That person was Ma
xwell’s Aunt Cheryl. She and her husband raised Maxwell after his parents died. He lived with them until he graduated high school and then he got an apartment with a friend of his. Shortly thereafter, she and her husband got a divorce and not long after that, she died. Maxwell inherited the house and all of the money. She had a pretty good life insurance policy. That’s where he got his big stash from. It’s funny though. Look at the autopsy report. It looks like the cause of death has been changed.”
Pete looked at where Kent was pointing and agreed. Turning the page again, he came to the obituary of Dom’s grandmother.
“Not much here,” Pete said. “How did she die?”
“Well,” Kent said, “she must have been clumsy, because she fell down the stairs. It was ruled another accident and put quickly to rest. It seems as if no one ever got the connection.”
“I think I’m getting it now,” Pete said. “He’s killing off everyone in his family and everyone that ever gets close to him also.”
“That’s the thought I had too,” Kent said. “This guy is a real sick piece of shit, but go on. Turn to the last page.”
Pete read on.
“Who’s this Billy Henderson guy?” he asked.
“Maxwell’s best friend in the entire world. They hung out for years together. They worked together, lived together, did about everything together from what I hear. It was a robbery at an ATM, but I have no doubt about who was behind it. As a matter of fact, I think that as soon as we catch our friend, Dominick Maxwell, we should re-open all of these cases and see how many we can charge him for.”
“I think you’re going someplace here, Kent. This guy must have a loose screw rattling around inside his head. When we get him, I hope they fry him. Where on earth did you scrape up all of this dirt on him?”
“That’s the beautiful part!” Kent responded. “I got a hold of Maxwell’s uncle that was married to Maxwell’s Aunt Cheryl. It seems that he’s still pissed off that Maxwell got the house and all of the money and he told me everything he knew about Maxwell. That really helped me put this scrap book thing together.”
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