Houseboat

by Paul Shadinger

  Sakol continued, “Lan said that Hollis discovered she was listening in on a conversation where he was telling somebody on the phone he was not going to let anybody catch him and he said he was going to ‘the lighthouse on the island’, or ‘the lighthouse island’, and when he caught her, he flipped out. Even though she hadn’t heard him very well while he was talking, he went wild and started whipping her. She tried to get him to stop and she told him you had come by the club and talked to her, but she swore to him she had told you nothing. That was when he stabbed her. She told me she had no idea what he meant about any island or lighthouse. Do you have any idea?”

  I thought for a moment, “No, it means nothing to me. Was she able to tell you who Hollis was talking to?”

  “No. However, Lan confirmed he was the one who killed the Bottomsley woman and her nephew. The nephew hired Price and Hollis to kill Rockingham because he thought his aunt would inherit all of Slim’s money. After the nephew found out about Jennifer, the nephew hired the two of them to murder the daughter as well, but they never even had a chance to carry it out. Price was at your place looking for information as to where the daughter was staying. When you got home, Price was afraid you’d recognize him, so he ran.”

  I still had a problem with the explanation, but perhaps time had eroded his nerve. Perhaps the cancer treatment has sapped his strength to the point where he was afraid to confront me. For him, it was just easier to try to run. Being honest, I had no idea if I’d have stuck around, or if I was in his shoes, if I’d have run.

  Chapter 36

  The coroner made several snide comments about having to come out on Christmas Eve, and also the growing number of bodies Sakol seemed to be involved with. Finally, between the look on Sakol’s face and a comment he made, the coroner figured out Sakol wasn’t any happier to be involved than the coroner was. It took several hours to deal with Lan’s body before he finally ordered his men to take her away. It took about the same amount of time before the police had finished with the two of us.

  I was finished before Sakol and I wanted to get back to the strip club and my truck, so I called a cab instead. The taxi dropped me off in front of the club and I headed back to where I was parked. When I was close to the truck, I whistled, and I was surprised when I didn’t see BJ peering out the window at me. When I got to the truck I saw her curled up in the passenger seat, and after I opened the door, I saw the zip tie somebody had slipped over her neck and pulled tight; a zip tie that had made it impossible for her to breathe. Somebody had killed my dog, and I was positive who’d done it.

  This was so sickening I turned away then threw up in the bushes. All I remembered was slamming the truck door, then putting down the tailgate, and just sitting there. The thing I knew I had to do was keep my mind away from the loss of Blackjack. I’ve no idea how long I sat there until finally I heard my cell phone ringing and I looked at the number displayed on the caller ID screen. Since I didn’t recognize the number, I answered it. “Hello. Matt here.”

  The laughter on the other end was cold. His voice was taunting as he asked, “Did you find your pooch yet? How’d ya like my Christmas present?” The sound of his voice gave me goosebumps. Hollis continued, “Now listen to me buddy boy, this is the last time I’m telling you to back off. I can do anything I want, and you can’t stop me. Do you hear me? Back off. Your bitch may still be alive, but I know how to get to her. And tell your little slope buddy that I just love to stick slanty eyed. Both of you better leave me alone. Do you hear me? Do you hear me Preston? I’m ready to kill you next.” His voice had become a hysterical scream by the end of his tirade.

  How had he gotten my cell phone number? I growled in my phone, “Listen, you fat cocksucker, you’ve gone too far now. You killed my…” I heard the click of him hanging up on me. The light in the phone hadn’t even gone out when it rang again. I thought Hollis might be calling me back, but instead it was Sakol.

  “Matt?”

  I went straight to the point. “BJ is dead; Hollis killed her.” I gave an involuntary sob.

  “Where are you?” Sakol asked.

  “At the strip club.”

  “Stay there. I’m on my way.”

  I considered staying, but now the thing with Hollis was just between the two of us. First Sharon and now BJ. No. This was now personal. Very personal! If it were possible, I wanted to be the one who found Hollis.

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Once I had my senses back, I cut the zip tie off BJ, but I left her lying on the passenger seat. Memories kept trying to creep in, but I’d push them away as fast as possible. Not only did I want my anger to stay cold, I wanted to hate Hollis as much as I could. There was plenty of time to remember BJ later.

  So much for a Merry Christmas for me. Sharon was in the hospital. Jeff was in the hospital. BJ was dead and I had no idea how to find Hollis.

  I drove around for a while, trying to come up with a plan to find Hollis. I racked my brain, trying to come up with a clue. There must be some way to figure out where he might be hiding. One thought that came to mind was to try and find out where he was born or where he had entered the service. That might be of some help; that might be a starting point. As I started to roll that idea in my mind, I remembered a friend from the old days, and I wondered what happened to him. I drove back to my apartment and started searching through my desk for an old address book I knew I had. I was positive it was somewhere in my office. Finally, I found it and his phone number. I dialed it and to my surprise, someone answered it right away.

  “Bruce, Bruce Frost?” I asked.

  “Yes, who’s this?”

  “Good evening…er, I guess it actually is good morning. This is Matt…Matt Preston. I apologize for calling so late. And by the way, Merry Christmas.”

  The voice on the other end of the phone sounded happy to hear from me. “Matt? Is it really you?”

  “Yep!”

  “Well Merry Christmas to you too. How long has it been? It’s great to hear your voice.”

  “I know it’s been a long time, and I apologize for not keeping in touch better.”

  “Hey, I didn’t do much better,” said Bruce, laughing as he made the comment. “To what do I owe the honor of this phone call?”

  “I need to find out some information.” I began to tell Bruce about Hollis and Price and all the issues involved in the case. I ended up with, “Do you have any way of getting in Hollis’ file and seeing where he was from?”

  “Sorry buddy, I can see you are not having the best of holidays. Give me a number to call you back and I’ll see what I can do.” I gave him my cell number, and he told me he’d try and be back to me within the next few hours. Until then I’d just have to cool my heels.

  BJ was still down in my truck, and I knew I needed to do something with her soon. I didn’t care that it was dark outside, actually the darkness fit my mood better than if it had been sunny. After a lot of thought, I decided to bury BJ in the vacant lot behind the apartment; it just made sense since it had been such a favorite place for her. I settled on putting her under a specific bush, because I thought she’d always liked to sniff that one a little more than any of the other bushes.

  I’d taken a large towel and wrapped it around her with a couple of her favorite toys before I dug the hole. As I was digging, I knew tears were streaming down my face. When I finished digging, I got down on my hands and knees and placed her in the hole. I told her goodbye and then gently covered her up. There was no doubt that I was really going to miss her. When I’d just put the last shovel of dirt over her, Sakol pulled up next to the lot.

  As Sakol walked up to me he said, “I thought I told you to stay at the club.”

  “Sorry, I wanted to get her buried. It was something I wanted to do by myself. I hope you understand.”

  I could see the sorrow on Sakol’s face. It was obvious he was grieving too. “I’m sorry Matt. I do under
stand. I know how much she meant to you.”

  “Thanks. Right now, I’m not letting myself think too much about her. By the way, I called an old friend I served with back in Nam and I think might be able to dig up some info on Hollis. I hoped something from his past might tip us off about the lighthouse thing.”

  “Good idea, when friend call back?” Sakol asked.

  I noticed Sakol was having a hard time keeping up the Charlie Chan routine with all that was going on. He seemed to keep slipping between the two. What with his partner shot, and then finding Bottomsley and the nephew along with the stripper, my guess was that Sakol was having his own demons to deal with.

  When I asked Sakol if he wanted to come in for a cup of coffee while we waited, he agreed. We sat in the front room waiting for the phone to ring. I noticed it was starting to grow lighter outside when the phone finally rang, startling both of us. It was my friend, Bruce.

  “Matt, Bruce here.”

  “What did you find out?”

  “I was able to see some of the initial information from when Hollis first joined. Did you know he was from Washington State?”

  “No kidding? Where?” I was stunned. I wondered if Walter knew that Hollis was from around here.

  “It lists his hometown as Ross Island. I didn’t know you could have an island as your hometown. Do you have any idea where that’s at?” I’d written down Ross Island on a piece of paper, and then turned it, so Sakol could read it. Sakol looked at the piece of paper, looked at me and then mouthed, “Bye!” With that he headed out the back door. I called after him to wait, but before I could end the call with Bruce, I heard his squad car start and then take off.

  When I finished my call with Bruce, I tried to call Sakol twice, but he wasn’t picking up. I started to wonder what it was about Ross Island that made him leave so quickly. I thought one way to figure that out was to find out more information on the island. I went over to my computer and did a search on Ross Island. I was curious to see if there was any information which might be of use. I looked up the island, and under its history, I found my answer.

  Shortly after the Civil War, the government had built a fort on the north end of the island. Because the government already owned the entire north end of the island because of the lighthouse, the fort was just an extension.

  When they built the fort, the government thought it was located in a very strategic place. From the fort, they could guard all the straits out to the Pacific Ocean. Any invading ship had to come up the straights and the fort could subject the invading ships to heavy cannon fire from the large cannons inside.

  Once they started to build large battleships during WWI, the ships made stationary forts obsolete. The fort was abandoned just after the war. Shortly after that they decommissioned the lighthouse. Since Hollis had grown up on the island, I was sure he knew all the best hiding places around the fort and inside the lighthouse. I wondered how much Sakol knew about the old fort and the abandoned lighthouse.

  I started driving to the ferry that would take me to the island as quickly as I could. While I was driving I kept trying to call Sakol, but the calls continued to be forwarded to voicemail.

  When I pulled up to the ticket counter the attendant told me I had lucked out and I was going to catch the next ferry just before it pulled out. The ferry ride was difficult, since this was the first time I was going anywhere without BJ. I kept reaching over to pet her, but she wasn’t there. When I got to the other side, as I was pulling off the ferry, I tried one more time to call Sakol without any luck. I was getting frantic. I was worried. Finally in desperation I called Frank.

  By the way he answered the phone I could tell he was wondering who was calling him on Christmas morning. “Frank Morgan here.”

  “Frank, its Matt, Matt Preston.”

  “Hey, Merry Christmas. What’s up, Matt?”

  I hesitated, “It’s about Sakol.”

  Frank’s voice had an edge when he spoke again, “What about Sakol?”

  “There was a stripper named Lan and she worked at Robbie’s. Sakol knew her parents from the village where he came from.”

  “And,” Frank was pushing me to go faster.

  “Well, someone killed her last night, or early this morning. She identified Hollis as the one who killed her. It turns out Hollis was from Ross Island, and Sakol learned that Hollis might be headed over there. As Lan was dying, she said something about an old abandoned lighthouse and an old fort. I keep trying to call Sakol, but he isn’t answering.”

  “Where are you?”

  I decided Frank wouldn’t be happy if he knew I was already on the island, so I told him a white lie. I’m at the apartment burying BJ. Hollis killed her last night.”

  I sure hoped BJ would forgive me for using her like that, “Oh shit, Matt, I’m sorry. I know how much that dog meant to you. Look, we’re on our way to catch the next ferry, and I’ll alert the island police, as well. I’ll call you later and tell you how things turn out. Is that ok?”

  “Thanks Frank.” I hung up. I now knew exactly what I was going to do.

  Chapter 37

  After pulling off the ferry I drove as fast as possible up the island. I feared that Sakol had caught the ferry before me and may have tried to go after Hollis by himself. I had no idea what Hollis would do to him. I was grateful that it was Christmas morning, the traffic was light. A couple of times I think my truck went faster than it ever had in its life. I know I took some of the corners way too fast and I was grateful there was no oncoming traffic as I drifted through them.

  The lighthouse is located at the rear of the old fort and when I arrived, I drove through the old gates heading towards the back. Once I reached the old fort’s deserted upper parking area, I slipped the transmission out of gear and let my truck slowly coast across the sloped and weed-choked parking lot. By the deplorable condition of the lot, it was obvious no one had used the entire area in a long time.

  I let the truck continue to roll across the lot while I kept alert for any movements. It had been a long time since I’d been in Nam and had to rely on my instincts for survival. I could feel the adrenaline rush surging through my body and I carefully inspected every bush surrounding the back lot of the park. Slowly I continued circling the parking lot as it continued to head towards the very back of the park. Even though no one had used the parking lot for several decades, I still thought it was quiet—too quiet for my taste.

  Off in the distance stood the old abandoned lighthouse, looming over the landscape. Its once white tower now grimy, weather-beaten and rust stained while most of the lower portion of the tower, as well as the old lighthouse tender’s cabin was covered in ivy and moss.

  I turned off the motor and coasted to a stop. Hollis’ old dark blue former state patrol Ford, the same one I’d seen a few nights ago when he had shot Jeff, stood abandoned. The driver’s door was open and it stood next to a pathway leading towards the old lighthouse. It appeared the car had just been left standing where it stopped near the path.

  Towards the far end of the lot, sitting on four flat tires, was an old derelict truck with both its doors and hood missing. Every very piece of glass had been busted out by vandals. I noticed a Seattle Police undercover car, also vacated, next to the old truck. I assumed it must be Sakol’s squad car. Since the trunk was open, it looked like he’d removed his shotgun from the trunk before he went after…after whom? From what I was seeing in the parking lot, it had to be Hollis. I had tried to call Sakol on his cell phone as I drove up the island without any luck. I didn’t hold out much hope but I left a message on his voicemail anyway asking him to please call me.

  I hoped Sakol wouldn’t put himself in a position where Hollis felt he’d have to defend himself. By now, we both knew Hollis would stop at nothing. At this stage of the game, shooting anyone meant nothing to him, even another cop. Sakol probably had his shotgun with him, but that did lit
tle to ease my fears for his safety.

  I pulled out the pistol I keep hidden under the passenger’s seat and checked to see it was loaded and had a bullet in the chamber. After taking a last look around, I bailed out of my truck at the back of the lower parking lot. I moved as quickly as possible through the bushes up towards the derelict lighthouse, trying to remain hidden from sight. I found that even though the years had put a few pounds on my frame, a lot of the old training was coming back and I was moving quickly towards the lighthouse.

  After years of hooligans shooting out every piece of glass, none of the windows remained intact throughout the entire structure. I’d read online that the lighthouse was on some list for restoration someday, that it was considered a historic landmark, but as far as I could see, nothing had been done.

  I moved to my left carefully as I continued to use the bushes and sand dunes to cover my approach. I didn’t want to give Hollis any chance to see me from the lighthouse if possible.

  When I reached the last bunch of bushes I’d be able to use to cover my next move before I’d be exposed, I stopped for a moment, waiting for my heart to stop trying to jump out of my chest. It had been a long time since I’d stalked anyone. Some of the old training was coming back, but the fear of failure this time was new to me. I’d always had some fear in the past when I was on patrol back in country, but I’d always believed I had the upper hand. That attitude came from what I perceived as the better training, if you will, which I realized was arrogant on my part, but it was how we were trained and how I felt all during my time in SE Asia. Now years had passed and I had no idea if the old training was going to help me stay alive.

  I peeked over the last bush. What I saw lying on the sand realized my worst fears. There was a man on the ground, and from the size and the dark hair on top of his head, as well as a shotgun lying a few feet from an outstretched hand, I was afraid it was Sakol.

  I knew I had to extinguish those thoughts quickly. I had to keep a calm head, but things were becoming difficult. I found my mind quickly awash with all the fond memories I had of Sakol. I knew I didn’t have time to reminisce, and I had to force myself to wrap up those thoughts. I consoled myself with the knowledge I’d have time to deal with those feelings later, but it was becoming increasingly more difficult to stay focused. With the loss of BJ, and seeing everyone who meant anything to me getting hurt it was making it almost impossible to keep my mind clear.