by C. C. Wall
33 - Guilt
“In you go.” Dyer said as he put Dakota in his cell. “Now you two play nice.”
Dakota looked to the cell across from him and saw Jonathan. Once Dyer left, Dakota said, “You’re the mayor right?”
“Right,” Jonathan said through gritted teeth.
“What are you doing here?” Dakota said.
“Just because we share this room, that does not make us chums,” Jonathan said.
“If you can think of a better way to pass time, then let me know,” Dakota said.
“All right fine,” Jonathan said. “What are you in here for?”
“Murder,” Dakota said.
Jonathan was taken aback. “Oh, how did they catch you? Some awful security footage?”
“I turned myself in,” Dakota said.
“That was stupid,” Jonathan said. “Why would you do that?”
“The guilt,” Dakota said. “I waited a few days but couldn’t live with myself.”
“Guilt, huh?” Jonathan said. “Who did you kill?”
“My brother,” Dakota answered.
Jonathan nodded. “That would do it, I think.”
“So tell me more about this, guilt,” Jonathan asked.
“I don’t know what there is to tell. I was mad at him. I felt betrayed by him. And I acted,” Dakota said.
“I know that feeling,” Jonathan said. He was lost in thought. He was replaying the events that happened between he and Michael. “Guilt, huh?”
Dakota grinned. “Are you having some guilt issues as well?”
“Never mind me!” Jonathan snapped. “You know, you are very much full of pep for someone who supposedly has this much guilt.”
“That’s because the body is missing,” Dakota said. “So either, someone moved it or he isn’t dead. If someone moved it, they did it for reason. That disturbs me a bit. But if my brother isn’t dead, I’m sure he will be coming for me soon enough.” Dakota laid down on his cot. “Neither of those things fill me with much guilt at the moment. I’m more concerned with finding out what the hell is going on.”
“So if you didn’t kill your brother,” Jonathan asked. “What the bloody hell are you still doing here?”
“I haven’t the slightest idea,” Dakota said. “But at least while I’m in here, no one can kill me. It’ll give me time to think and time to plan.” Dakota closed his eyes. “Getting pretty chummy in here, aren’t we?”
Jonathan’s anger grew.
“You got a visitor,” Dyer said. He opened the door.
“Francine?” Jonathan said and stood to his feet. His smile was wide. He grabbed the bars and held himself up close to them.
“Not Francine,” said a familiar voice. “But full of concern all the same.” Eugene Wellington strutted in the cell block.
“Get out of here,” Jonathan grunted out. His mouth was foaming with spit.
“There, there. Calm down, killer. I come baring very interesting news,” Eugene said.
“What is it?” Jonathan shouted.
“I just wanted you to know that I haven’t had any sleep at all last night over this,” Eugene said. “I was out meeting with all the members of the city counsel and thought I should come here right away and let you know what’s going on.”
“You bastard,” Jonathan said. “What have you done?”
“Well, Johnny,” Eugene said. “Do you mind if I call you Johnny? We need to figure out what we should call you. People are going to get confused.”
“Spill it!” Jonathan shouted.
“There will be a vote in the next couple of days,” Eugene said. “But I thought I should let you know that you are being impeached.”
“You can’t do that!” Jonathan screamed.
“I know I can’t on my own,” Eugene said. “But along with concerned citizens of Black Star Canyon and our beloved city counsel, we can do anything. No one wants a triple murderer, insect fueled pedophile, running their town.”
Jonathan’s eyes grew wide. His jaw hung open. His lips quivered. “That’s not true,” he whispered.
Eugene leaned in close and whispered back. “It doesn’t matter. It’s in the public eye now. You are finished.”
Jonathan’s face was covered in tears. He didn’t cry. His eyes were just too full. “What have you done?”
“That right there,” Eugene said. “That look on your face is thanks enough. If I were to die right now, that look would be enough for me.”
“I can arrange that death for you,” Jonathan said quietly.
“I’m sure you could, tiger,” Eugene said. “I just wouldn’t want people to get the idea that we were having an affair. That’s what you do isn’t it? Find men to sleep with then kill them?”
“Not every time,” Jonathan said. “You will pay.”
“Probably not,” Eugene smiled. “Thanks again for this whole crime spree thing. You really helped me out and you helped out the good people of Black Star Canyon.” Eugene headed for the door. “Oh wait, there is one more thing.” He came back to the cell. “I’m gong to be the next mayor of our fair town.” Eugene laughed diabolically and then cleared his throat.
“No!” Jonathan screamed. He thrashed around his cell slamming himself into the bars. He eventually tired himself out and fell to the floor.
“That’s quite a rap sheet there, chum,” Dakota said.
As Eugene was walking out of the station he stopped and turned to make an announcement. “Excuse me, deputies, If I could please have your attention, I just wanted you all to be the first to know that the tyrannical reign of Mayor Kensington is coming to end. I only have you all to thank for that. Your tireless, hard work is what makes this town great. And, when I am elected mayor, not only will the budget for the Sheriff’s Station go up, but all of you here who helped catch that maniac in there will all be getting raises from me personally.”
Reed began clapping.
“Knock that off, Reed,” Reagan said. “He is innocent until proven guilty.”
Eugene smiled. “Oh no. That just isn’t true,” Eugene turned and as he swung open both double doors he said, “Check out today’s post in the Hart Attack.”
“Pull it up Reed,” Reagan said. He sighed knowing that this can’t be good. “I should have a damn drink in my hand.”
“Uh oh,” Reed said.
“What?” Reagan asked.
“It says here that Jonathan was arrested for the murders of both Michael and Henry Goodman and the kidnapping, torture and rape of his daughter Elizabeth Kensington and another unnamed woman that was also found murdered.” Reed said.
“Jesus H. Christ,” Reagan said. “I don’t care what you do, but find that little knee nipper and get his stupid ass in here. I want him arrested.”
“For what?” Dyer asked.
“I don’t care,” Reagan said. “Make it up.”
34 - Just Like Old Times
Eric was holding Elizabeth on the bed. Not nearly as tightly as before. She had calmed down and was cracking smiles every so often as they talked.
“Eric?” Sue said as she stepped in the room. “We need a moment with Elizabeth.”
To Eric and Elizabeth’s surprise, behind Sue stood a familiar face.
“Detective Lukas!” Elizabeth said. Her face was mixed with joy and fear. She knew she was going to have to relive her ordeal in just a few moments.
Eric understood. He got up and as he was walking out, Lukas stopped him.
“I just wanted to say how sorry I was about Michelle…”
“Stop,” Eric said. “Don’t do that. Not right now.”
Lukas had never seen Eric so stern, so assertive, so grown-up. Lukas didn’t want to upset him. He clinched his lips tightly and Eric walked out.
“I’m sorry,” Sue said.
“Don’t be,” Lukas responded. They walked closer to the bed.
Elizabeth raised her hand towards them. “No,” she said. “Just him.”
Sue agreed and left the two alone
in the room.
“How are you feeling?” Lukas asked.
“Better,” she said. “Where have you been?”
“Honestly,” he said. “I’ve been down the hall. I guess, I was in a coma.”
Concern took over her face. “What happened?”
“It’s not important,” he said. “What is important though is we find out who did this. Can you help me do that?”
She nodded. “Yes, I really want to help.”
“Okay,” he said. “You are going to have to tell me everything that happened that night. Can you do that?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Now?”
“Please,” he said.
“Okay, I was meeting Henry at the motel and…”
“This wasn’t the first time I take it?” he said.
Shame took her over. “No, no it wasn’t.”
“Did Henry force you to meet him there,” Lukas asked.
“No, not at all,” she said. Her face lit up. “He treated me really good. Henry treated me like a woman, not like a kid. He was sweet to me. He always had gifts for me. I felt safe with him.”
“I’ll keep all that between us if you would like,” he said.
“I would. Thank you.” She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. She choked a little and cleared her throat. “He got there to the room and forgot something in his truck. When he opened the door, I could tell someone was standing there but I didn’t know who. I thought it was my father at first, until the lighting struck. When the lighting struck, it made the man look twice the size that he was, if that makes any sense. The reflection from the mirror on the wall lit up his face. It was horrible. He had long black hair and a scruffy black beard. It was almost as if he had no eyes or something, it just looked like ping pong balls in the sockets. The lighting made the shadows of his face funny, like he was a monster or something.”
Lukas was trying as hard as he could to not let on that he thought he knew who she was talking about. He put his hand on her shoulder.
She continued, “I think Henry saw the look on my face when he opened the door. He was looking at me when he opened it. The fear in my eyes immediately went to him. I think he thought it my father too, at first anyway.”
“And then he had the heart attack?” Lukas asked.
“Heart attack?” Elizabeth asked right back.
Lukas did a double take from her question. “Yeah. Henry died of a heart attack.”
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Why would you ask that?” Lukas said. “You were there, you had to have seen it happen. Was he attacked?”
Elizabeth grew troubled. She began fidgeting. Her face was scrunching up. “Not like you would think. The man leaned forward into the door way, almost like a snake or something. His face got really close to Henry’s and then his lips curled back, like super slow and he showed his teeth. It wasn’t like an angry face or a smile. It is just like I said it was. That’s when Henry grabbed his chest. He gasped and fell on the ground.”
“Did he say anything to you?” Lukas asked. “Did you get the impression that Henry knew the man?”
“No,” she said. “I didn’t get that impression at all. I guess that is when Henry died. He didn’t move again after that.”
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Thank you.” She pushed her hair back behind her ears. “After Henry died, the man turned to me. But he turned different. He turned like… water.”
“Water?” Lukas thought for a moment. “Do you mean fluidly? Like every movement was apart of the movement before and the beginning of the next one coming? Like that.”
She nodded. “I think so. It was weird. It wasn’t right. People don’t move like that.”
“Could you explain it?” he asked.
“Well, his head turned towards me and he saw me. Then it was like his head started coming towards me, then his neck, then his torso turned away from Henry and followed his neck and then his legs turned and followed his torso. His head got to me before the rest of him did. I know this sounds crazy, but it was like it was segmented, but together.”
“What else did you notice?” he asked.
“His face seemed to get bigger,” she said.
Lukas didn’t know what to think. He had been through a lot but he knew the story sounded ridiculous. Then he remembered that a guy took his head in his apartment and took him for a walk. “Go on.”
“I felt like I was frozen. I couldn’t move. I wanted to keep screaming but I couldn’t. My mouth would slightly open and nothing would come out. He lift his hand up and it started to come towards me really slow. I remember, I looked down at his hand and it was already closer than I thought it would’ve been. I can’t remember if it was going for my throat or my mouth, but I focused on his hand and that’s the last thing I remember. Next thing I know, I woke up here.”
“Thank you for trusting me with that,” Lukas said. “You are stronger than I am, that’s for sure.”
Her eyes filled with tears and she lunged at him and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Take it easy,” he said. “It’s okay.” He looked at her and smiled. “Why didn’t you tell anyone else here this information? Why did you wait for me? Was it because I came and talked to you when you first came in here?”
“No,” she said.
“Then why?” he asked.
“Because the whole time all of that was happening in the motel room. There was a voice in my head. A man’s voice. That kept repeating. Tell Lukas. Tell Lukas. Tell Lukas. I didn’t even know who Lukas was until you came in here.”
Lukas leaned back. His face became paler. His mouth went dry. Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. “Did you recognize the voice?”
“No,” she said.
Lukas wiped his face. “Is there anything else you could remember that might be useful?”
Elizabeth’s face was blank.
“Do you remember what he was wearing?”
Her eyes widened. “Yes! He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt. The hood was up.”
The fact the Lukas wasn’t going crazy made him feel better but the voice relating in her head made him feel more than uncomfortable. “Thank you Elizabeth. You have helped us more than you could ever know.”
She smiled. “You’re welcome.”
Lukas walked out of the room. “Sue, you can tell Eric he can go back in there.”
“He’s already on his way in.” She pointed to Eric running back in the room.
“Doesn’t waste any time,” he said.
“He’s really worried about her.” She smiled and patted Lukas on the shoulder. “Did you get what we needed?”
“And then some,” Lukas said. He turned to Chaney who had been waiting in the hall. “You guys ready to get back to the station?”
“More than ready,” Sue said.
“Let’s do it,” Chaney added. Then they headed down the hall.
A voice from down the hall stopped them in their tracks.
“Chaney?” said Jack Hart who was walking towards them. “Would you look at this? The great Deputy Callahan and her two suspected murderers.” He pointed to Chaney. “The cloth doesn’t do anything for you my friend, you still killed your wife and ran. Damn, I wish I had my camera.”
As they passed him, Chaney punched him in the jaw. Jack spun and fell to the ground.
“Let me help you up,” Lukas said. He then threw Jack against the opposite wall and gave him another right hook to the jaw.
Jack dropped to the floor and was out like a light.
“Just like old times, huh?” Sue said.
35 - Civic Pride
“Not many people out and about today,” Reed said.
“Yeah,” Dyer said. “The place is looking more dead everyday.”
Reed gave him a look of disgust.
“I didn’t mean because of all the… dying,” Dyer said. He quickly cleared his throat. He could see that Reed was not handling all of this death very well. “We
will catch whoever is doing this. Don’t you worry about it.”
“I know,” Reed said. “We got this.”
Dyer laughed to himself at Reed’s phony optimism.
They parked right out front of the store. That time of day, it was usually packed with housewives running around trying get everything they need for the day. That day, it was empty.
“Death makes it dead, damn it!” Zoe said. “I’m telling ya.”
“Funny,” Dyer said. “We were just thinking the same thing.”
“Well, he was,” Reed said. “I wasn’t.”
“Whatever,” Dyer said. He turned to Zoe and walked her into the store. “I just wanted to ask you a couple questions about Kara.”
“I figured,” she said. “When I heard she was missing, I didn’t know what to think. Do you think she had an older lover?” She leaned in hoping Dyer would whisper some information to her.
“You know how this works, Zoe,” Dyer said. “I ask the questions, you answer them and I don’t tell you anything important to the case.”
“Sure,” she said. She gave him wink to let him know that she knew he had to say that in front of Reed. “Ask away.”
“Did you ever see Kara with anyone? Did she have problems with anyone who came by the store?” he asked.
“No,” she said. “Not a one. She was always very professional. She came to work to work. She did her work, and then she would go home. In fact, if she wasn’t so good at her job, I don’t know if I would have enough time to gossip.” She laughed.
Dyer wasn’t amused. “Was she acting strange at all the last couple days? Any phone calls?”
“Not that I can think of. She was the most consistent thing in this town. She did her work and did it well. She never had personal calls here,” Zoe said.
“When was the last time she worked?” he asked.
“Two days ago,” she said. “The day before yesterday.”
“Were those her normal hours?” Reed asked. “Was yesterday always her day off?”
“It was,” she said. “We are kind of in a rut here. That’s the way I like it.”