by C. M. Sutter
The door creaked open, and Hal Friedman from forensics stuck his head in. “Sorry to interrupt, but the DNA comparison is complete.”
Spelling set down his coffee cup. “And what are the results?”
“They’re a match, sir.”
“That’s damn good news. Thanks, Hal. Now we can set up that APB for Max Sims and change the digital freeway signs to reflect a black Ford Focus with Illinois plates. Also, he may have passed through the tollbooths if he is already in Wisconsin.” Spelling lifted the receiver for the phone on the table and tapped button number six. “Agent Williams, it’s SSA Spelling. We need all of the tollbooth cameras coming into Wisconsin from the Illinois side checked for a black Ford Focus, Illinois plate number A69-HHY. Get some agents on it right away. Check from this morning until now. Have the Illinois State Patrol alert the tollbooth personnel to flag that vehicle if it hasn’t come through yet but does anytime in the next few days. All right everyone”—he smacked the table with his open hands—“it’s time to get some sleep. We’ll be starting again first thing in the morning. There are plenty of agents and law enforcement personnel in the area that can keep their eyes peeled for that car. The noose is tightening around Max Sims’s neck, and he isn’t going to slip away this time.” Spelling stood, shook Jack and Amber’s hands, and thanked them for their help.
J.T.’s car and my own were still at the Glendale office and had been for nearly a week.
“Amber, I’ll be home soon. I have to pick up my car first. Jack, would you mind hanging out at my house until I get there?”
“Not a bit. We’ll see you soon, and don’t worry about your mom’s house, either. The guys said everything is quiet there.”
“Thanks, Jack.” I gave his hand a squeeze and hugged Amber. “I’ll be about a half hour behind you guys.”
Chapter 45
Law enforcement was closing in and had somehow gotten wind of the vehicle he was currently driving. The license plates didn’t match with the Ford but he still didn’t want to take the chance when he saw the latest description of the BOLO on the digital freeway signs. He knew he had to steal another car—the last one he’d need. Hotwiring something older was the only way to take a vehicle without somebody reporting the time, place, and most likely, a physical attack. Getting off the interstate and crossing into Wisconsin on Highway 41, where there weren’t any tollbooths or digital freeway signs, had temporarily kept him out of sight. Nobody had his location on their radar, and if the cops checked the toll cameras, they wouldn’t find him.
That old Chevy pickup, rusted and dented, was the perfect choice and easy to hotwire. Max had found it along the curb in a dark, crime-ridden area of Milwaukee. Whoever owned it would likely be happy to see it gone. The Ford Focus was left unlocked nearby with the keys clearly visible in the ignition. It wouldn’t be there long. He was sure of that.
Max continued on until he spotted a run-down looking motel that faced the highway along a frontage road. He was still in Milwaukee County but within twenty-five miles of his destination.
Paying with cash for the fleabag motel room was the smart thing to do and left no paper trail. He glanced from left to right once he crossed the threshold of room number three. A double bed with a permanent indention in the center reminded him of a swayback horse. Two mismatched wooden chairs sat against the table in the corner of the room, and the broken cord for the blinds lay on the floor. One nightstand holding a lamp with a cracked base illuminated that area. Max craned his neck to look into the bathroom—it was as bad as the rest of the room.
He groaned his displeasure as he tossed his backpack on the table. Max pulled back the bedspread, bunched the pillows against the headboard, and clicked on the television. He flipped the channels back and forth between the local news stations and WGN—the Illinois news channel. He watched the late-night news that aired on a loop from an earlier broadcast. Neither station mentioned him by name or the description of the black Ford Focus he had been driving. They only mentioned the most recent killing—that young girl in the Matteson motel room—and that the assailant was still at large. Max pressed the power button, turned off the TV, and clicked off the bedside lamp. He would sleep soundly with the knowledge that nobody knew his whereabouts. They wouldn’t find him until he was ready to be found. He was calling the shots.
Chapter 46
It was good to be home, and I wanted Amber to feel secure. I knew my presence calmed her anxieties. That night as we sat around the table, each with a beer in front of us, I thanked Jack for his help. We discussed how Max’s apprehension would be a joint effort between the FBI and Washburn County, if indeed that was where we finally captured him. Washburn County Sheriff’s Department knew his personality best and how dangerous the man really was, yet the FBI had more resources to work with, and we had been chasing him through numerous states. Still, Jack, Amber, and I had had up close and personal run-ins with him. We knew Max and Darryl much better than we wanted to, and we had to watch our backs.
“We’ll be watching the entire county closely, Jade, and the North Bend PD is keeping an eye on anybody that fits Max’s description. We know he’s a chameleon and can change his look at the drop of a hat, but he can’t change his size and weight. The sheriff’s department is going to stop cars randomly coming into the county. He’ll be caught soon, and then we can all breathe a sigh of relief. We’re going to have our radar on high alert. Clark is all over this.” Jack gave Amber a quick look. “We know what Max is capable of.”
“I won’t be happy until that maniac is behind bars,” Amber said as she rubbed her brows.
“Well, we all agree with that comment.” I rolled my stiff neck and rotated my aching shoulders. “I’m going to call it a night, guys. I’m sure tomorrow is going to keep all of us pretty busy. My hope is that it will turn out to be a good day.”
I finished my beer and put the glass in the dishwasher. Jack rose and gave Amber and me a hug good night as he headed to the door.
“Lock that dead bolt behind me, partner, and check all of the doors before you turn in.”
I smiled with gratitude for Jack’s concern. “Yes, Dad. Good night.” I locked the door and watched Jack as he backed out of the driveway and drove away. I left the porch light on and flipped on the deck light, illuminating the entire backyard. Leaving the outdoor lights on was a good way to keep potential maniacs from entering our house, but the best deterrent yet was the shrieking alarm system and the pistols Amber and I always had within reach.
Polly and Porky, my adorable lovebirds, cooed from their cage just ten feet away as I climbed into bed and clicked off the lamp on the nightstand. I drifted off to their soothing sounds.
Surprisingly, I slept well. I chalked it up to being home in my own bed with my own soft pillow and warm blankets. I was showered, dressed, and downing my second cup of coffee by six forty-five. Amber dished up the apple cinnamon oatmeal and stacked several slices of whole wheat toast on a plate.
“Want some orange juice too?”
“Sure, that sounds good.” I browsed the morning paper’s front page. It was usually all I had time for. Normally, I finished reading the paper over a relaxing dinner. I wasn’t sure how relaxing tonight would be or whether I would even be home for our evening meal.
A half hour later, as Amber and I both left the house, I reminded her to keep me posted on any activity they might see or hear around Washburn County. My hopes were that somebody would call in a sighting of the black Ford Focus and Max would be apprehended.
I reached our Glendale office at eight o’clock. J.T. had already called Hertz, and a rep was there to pick up the rental car when I arrived. I parked and climbed out of my car right as J.T. handed the car keys to the Hertz rep and shook his hand. J.T. and I entered the building together and headed for the conference room, as we did every morning when we were in Milwaukee. The team, already seated, welcomed us back to the fold.
Spelling entered the room with a cup of coffee in one hand and sheets of p
aper in the other. He gave us a nod as he took his seat. We pulled out our notepads, ready to write down that day’s tasks.
“Morning, people.”
“Morning, boss,” we responded.
“I’m sorry if this sounds redundant to you, J.T. and Jade, but the rest of the team needs to be updated on the Max Sims case.”
“No problem, sir,” I said.
“Okay, for you that aren’t familiar with the name Max Sims, I apologize, but you’re getting the condensed version. We have a lot on our plates today.” Spelling looked at the pages of notes he had placed on the table. “Max Sims, age forty, and his father, Darryl Sims, who is serving a life sentence at WSPF Boscobel, killed in excess of twenty females over a period of twenty-five years. Max is currently on the run and has been since early last summer. I’m sure some of you saw the news coverage of that case.”
Spelling told how the Sims family farm had been taken back by the county some time ago for delinquent taxes and sold to a developer. After numerous attempts to make him vacate, Max was finally forced off the property five months ago. Upon its excavation, dozens of female skeletal remains were unearthed. He went on to say that Darryl Sims had murdered many women throughout his years, including his own wife and mother-in-law, and Max assisted in most of the killings.
“Max is continuing the family tradition of torture and murder and has yet to be apprehended. His thirst for killing continued long after Darryl was incarcerated back in 1996. Last summer, Max Sims committed one of his most heinous crimes to date.”
I steeled myself for the words Spelling was about to utter. Nobody on our team other than himself and J.T. knew that Max had killed my dad. I knew he had to reveal that information so our team would realize just how dangerous and diabolical Max Sims really was.
Spelling gave me a quick glance, and I nodded. I knew he was about to tell my story.
“Max tortured and murdered Jade’s own father, Tom Monroe. He nearly killed Jade’s sister, Amber, too.”
I focused at a spot on the table and tried to hold back the tears that stung my eyes. I didn’t want to look at my teammates. I knew they were all staring at me, most likely with shock and sadness written across their faces.
“Jade, would you like to add anything else?”
I squeezed my eyes closed then wiped the tears with my index finger. I took a deep breath, swallowed the thick lump in my throat, and faced my peers. “Yes, thanks, boss. Max is a sadistic serial killer that shouldn’t be taken lightly. He cannot be talked down and is probably too large and strong for any of us to apprehend solo. Don’t try it. His normal killing devices aren’t guns, so that is an advantage for us, but he doesn’t object to using them if he has one. I would advise anyone that actually is in a face-to-face conflict with Max to have plenty of backup and to hold him at gunpoint from a distance until other law enforcement personnel are there to help. If he charges you, shoot to kill. The man is no joke.”
Val reached over and squeezed my hand. “We had no idea, Jade. We’re so sorry for your loss.”
I nodded a thank-you to all of them and felt the tears well up again.
Spelling continued, “Okay, here is the latest since our powwow last night when J.T. and Jade got back. We’ve checked every Illinois toll road that comes into Wisconsin. No luck, but that isn’t saying Max is still in Illinois. He’s likely too smart to allow himself to be captured on the tollbooth cameras. We’re assuming by the northbound route he’s taken that he could very well be in the Milwaukee, Waukesha, or Washburn County areas.”
“Boss?”
Spelling paused. “Go ahead, Jade.”
“Max’s reach goes farther than that. He could be anywhere in the state, waiting to take orders from Darryl. Last summer I found him in Green River Falls, Wisconsin. He may also have connections with someone near the prison. I’m sure Darryl could hook him up with somebody on the outside.”
“Okay, that’s good intel. For now, since we don’t have any current leads on his whereabouts and nothing coming in on the car, let’s focus on seeing if any hits have come through on credit cards belonging to John Pratt, Ray Moore, or Fred West. Gas stations, restaurants, motels, and food stores could all be places where he might use those cards. Work with the tech department on that to speed things up. Be back here at eleven o’clock with an update. Get in the head of Max Sims and root him out.”
I returned to my desk with a fresh cup of coffee and plopped down. With a legal pad and a pen in hand, I began to write everything I could remember about Max, his habits, and his likes and dislikes. I closed my eyes and mentally returned to the cabin where we found the body of Theresa Gardino. I remembered the ball gag in her mouth and wondered if Max had a fondness for such a device. The same type of gag was in my own father’s mouth. I wrote down sex fetish shops. He liked beer, bottled water, and green apples. He ate potato chips. I wrote down grocery store and mini-marts. In my mind’s eye, I saw fishing lures and a tackle box in the cabin. I ruled that out. It was too late in the year for fishing.
“What are you working on, Jade?” J.T. asked.
“The types of places Max might go. They’re all too general, though. It would take forever to track down food store purchases and gas station receipts. I think we’re better off looking at cheap motels. There are fewer of them in the area, and most of those dumpy places are off the freeways on frontage roads. Max had to sleep somewhere. The farm doesn’t exist anymore.”
J.T. pulled a Wisconsin state map up on his computer. “Scoot your chair over here. Let’s check for frontage road motels along the highways, freeways, and interstates coming in from Illinois.”
“Maybe we should start from Matteson going north. I’d hate to miss something just because we assumed he wouldn’t get a room until nighttime.”
“Sure, good point.”
Two hours later, J.T. and I crossed off the name of the last of the roadside motels in northern Illinois just as the eleven o’clock mark arrived.
I stood and stretched. J.T. scratched his belly and rolled his shoulders when he got up.
“Come on. The boss is expecting an update.”
I gave him a scowl as we walked the hallway. “Yeah, our update will consist of zilch.”
“Hey, there’s no defeatism allowed on these premises.” J.T. grinned. “Chin up, agent. It won’t be long.”
The group gathered in the conference room for the second time that morning. SSA Spelling began by asking if anyone had found a new lead. He looked from face to face.
“We haven’t found anything yet, but J.T. and I are working together on cheap motels along the freeways. That type in particular are usually the ‘no-tell motel’ variety, if you know what I mean.” I made air quotes around the “no-tell motel” description. “They also accept cash payments, which we’ll be sure to ask about too. We just finished northern Illinois and will begin with Wisconsin after the meeting. Max has to hunker down somewhere, and I believe he’s deliberately lying low until he’s ready to make his move. That in itself makes him extremely dangerous.”
“Good work, agents. Anyone else?”
“The typical process of elimination,” Cam said. “We’re pushing through things that would be necessary for him, primarily gas. We’re focusing on the state highways too, simply because he didn’t cross through the tollbooths.”
“Okay, keep busy and remain diligent. Jade, I’d like you to touch base with your old coworkers. See if they’ve heard any chatter.”
“Got it, boss.”
Chapter 47
We broke for a late lunch at one o’clock. Over our burgers and fries, I explained to J.T. the conversation I’d had earlier with Jack.
“Jack said Washburn County hasn’t heard or seen anything relating to Max. He actually said North Bend seems eerily quiet. That in itself gives me goose bumps.”
“They’re still keeping your house and your mom’s under surveillance, right?”
I swished a fry around the pool of ketchup on my plate then
popped it into my mouth. “Yeah, they aren’t sitting on my house, but they do a drive-by every hour. I had a pretty intense security system installed after the incident last summer.” I didn’t need to go into detail about what I meant. J.T. understood. “An unmarked unit is sitting on my mom’s house, though, and what they’ve reported is that everything is quiet in the area.”
“Good to hear. Is this Max’s typical MO?”
I nodded. “Absolutely. Until recently, we hadn’t heard anything about him. He disappeared for nearly six months and stayed off everyone’s radar.”
J.T. took a sip of his soda and stared off, as if in thought. “That makes me wonder why he’s appeared now. Is there a specific reason he’s resurfaced?”
I shrugged. “We’re still keeping tabs on his communication with Darryl, but they write in code, and we have no idea what they’re saying to each other. They communicate occasionally by phone too, but even then the conversation is coded. They may as well be talking a foreign language. Max hasn’t visited Darryl since last summer, either.”
“I guess we’re in a holding pattern for now. The car hasn’t been seen, and nobody has called in a carjacking or even a stolen car for that matter. He has to be moving around, doesn’t he?”