Fancy Gap

by C. David Gelly

  “By the way, sheriff,” Jim said, “the lab report came back on the piece of twine Quinn found at Devil’s Den. It’s an exact match to whatever was wrapped around the boy’s neck.”

  The sheriff then called Quinn’s cell number.

  Quinn answered on the second ring. “Sheriff, I cringe when I get calls from you on a Sunday.”

  “Well, Quinn, it looks like our Surry County person of interest has been located in Raleigh County, West Virginia. That’s about a hundred miles from here, straight up I-77. Beckley is the biggest city there. Sounds like he’s holed up with some sick friend of his in a trailer. I’ve asked Levi to be here in half an hour. I’m going to call Leroy too. Can you and Louisa be here in half an hour?”

  “ We sure can, sheriff.”

  As he hung up, Louisa came back into the house from a trip to the garden.

  “Let me see. I’ll bet that was the sheriff or Leroy,” she guessed.

  “It was the sheriff, and we’re going to his office in half an hour.” Quinn filled Louisa in on the news. On the way to the sheriff’s office, Louisa looked out the truck window.

  “I’ll bet he’ll ask us to go to West Virginia to check this out. Let me remind you of the special prayer Mass Father Tony is having today for Katie’s safe return.” she said.

  “I do. Let’s see what the sheriff has to say.”

  They greeted the sheriff and Leroy as they walked into the office. Levi was right behind them. The sheriff looked at them with a somber look.

  “Have you called the detective in Raleigh County yet, Levi?” he asked.

  “No, I haven’t. I wanted to do it while I was here with you. “I’ll call him right now.”

  Levi connected with Detective Stone, who told him that they had a deputy hidden in the woods about a hundred yards from the trailer. The deputy had just called in and reported that he saw two white males walking around, along with a very small person. He couldn’t determine if it was a little boy or girl. Levi thanked Stone and told him he’d be there within two hours.

  “Boss, it looks like Wilton is there with a little person. I’ll be ready to leave in ten minutes. Who’s coming with me?” he asked.

  Louisa stood up. “I’m in. Are you coming, Leroy?”

  “We’ll take the new Dodge hemi cruiser and light it up,” said Leroy.

  * * *

  As Levi, Louisa, and Leroy left the parking lot, the sheriff called the dispatcher and asked her to alert both the Virginia and West Virginia state police.

  “Well, what do you think?” he asked Quinn. “Is there any way that this idiot is the one who has Katie?”

  Quinn shook his head. “I have no idea what they’ll find up in Beckley. But I just don’t think they’ll find Katie in West Virginia. My every instinct tells me she’s within ten miles of Fancy Gap. The killer is close and has been watching us.

  Sheriff, this killer is no buffoon. He’s held off giving in to his psychosis for a long time. He lost the battle when he started to plan for this abduction. His intellect has kept him on track up to now. He’s acting alone and leaving no clues behind, but he will, sheriff.”

  “Quinn, I hope you’re wrong and Louisa and the boys find her in West Virginia. I almost forgot. Jim Craig said the lab confirmed that what you found in the woods is an exact match to what was wrapped around the little boy’s neck.”

  “That’s not a surprise, sheriff. There’s more to be found. We just have to find it. Do you plan to go to the special Mass today? I think it would be helpful if the faithful saw the sheriff there.”

  “I’ll be there, Quinn. I think the Prestons need to see me and for me to give them a progress report. I also know that the media will be there, and it’s important that the good citizens of Carroll County see their sheriff on the job and ready to be reelected. This is about working hard for a job that I really like. Do you understand that, Quinn?”

  “Sheriff, I do understand. And as far as I’m concerned, you’re the right man for this important job. The citizens of Carroll County need a hardworking man who’s well versed in law enforcement and who’s a leader. You meet all of those important criteria.”

  They headed over to the church for the service. Most of the spaces were already full. The news teams were already set up in the parking lot. Quinn pulled into the parking space next to the sheriff. As the sheriff got out of his car, many members of the news teams rushed toward him.

  “Sheriff is it true that members of your department are now in West Virginia, looking for the person of interest from North Carolina?” the first reporter asked.

  The sheriff was taken aback by the question and chose his words carefully. “ We are working with West Virginia law enforcement authorities on a lead that we are following up on. We do not as yet have any new information on what they found in West Virginia.”

  “Sheriff, this is Sid Roland from the Washington Post. My sources tell me that you’re being assisted by Louisa Hawke, who recently retired from the FBI as the director of the criminal division. Is that true, sheriff ?”

  That question really threw the sheriff for a loop. He immediately knew that Libby Thomas must have tipped Roland off. None of the other supervisors had the balls to do it.

  “I’m sorry. What did you say your name was again?” said Sheriff Pierce. The sheriff was buying time, and Roland knew it.

  “Sheriff, its Sid Roland, and I asked about Louisa Hawke.”

  “Well, Mister Roland, I understand that Miss Hawke is vacationing in Fancy Gap, and according to my sources she’s enjoying her vacation in a secluded location.”

  Quinn decided that further questions might come up if the press knew who he was. He slipped around the back of his truck and headed to the back of the church, which was already overflowing with people. Father Tony stood at the back of the church, looking somewhat agitated. Quinn soon realized what had the priest in a lather.

  The altar boy came running around the side of the church toward the side entrance. The young boy was late. Quinn kept walking around the back of the church and ended up near the door that the boy had entered. The door to the sacristy was still ajar, and Quinn heard Father Tony having words with the boy. Father Tony shook the boy’s shoulders, his mouth close to his right ear. The boy was visibly upset.

  Father Tony quickly regained his composure. He looked at the door and saw Quinn watching. As soon as the boy put on his robe, they walked into the main church together. Quinn circled back around to the front of the church and met up with the sheriff.

  “Where the hell did you disappear to? I could have used your help out there, Quinn.”

  Quinn laughed as they entered the church. They had to stand in the back. The Prestons and Mary sat in the front. The room fell silent as Father Tony proceeded to the altar. The altar boy sat to the side in a solitary chair. Quinn noticed a look of concern on the boy’s face.

  Father Tony stood very still and began. “Let us pray. We gather as one in the community of the Lord as we share our prayers today during this holy Mass for Susan and Tim Preston and their beloved son, Pete, who now has his place at the side of Jesus. We also hold hands and pray for the safe return of their daughter, Katie. Lord, may your sacred hands guide her to the safety of her family.”

  As Father Tony continued to pray, Quinn’s eyes focused on what he had seen but hadn’t really noticed before. He also felt the vibration of his cell in his pocket. He slipped the phone out and saw that he had a text message from Louisa. He scrolled down: “We are in place, watching the trailer.”

  * * *

  Louisa was impressed with Leroy’s driving as they rolled down I-77 at about one hundred miles an hour. The Virginia State Police escort dropped off when they reached the West Virginia line. The West Virginia trooper waved and led them down the rest of I-77 to Raleigh County. They slowed as they approached the Beckley exit.

  The trooper led them to the sheriff ’s department. Levi recognized the area, as he had picked up a prisoner there several years before. They
parked in the front of the building, and the trooper led them inside, where two men in combat fatigues were waiting. Sheriff Danner and Detective Stone introduced themselves to Louisa, Leroy and Levi.

  “Sheriff, I think we met several years ago when I picked one up one of our bad apples who needed to go back to Carroll County,” said Levi.

  “I remember you, Levi. Looks like y’all have your hands full with this one. Detective Stone will ride in your car Leroy and Louisa and Levi can ride with me. It won’t take very long to get out there.”

  In the car, the sheriff said to Levi, “It seems that Wilton Tubbs has been up here for a few days now. We talked to one of our snitches who lives nearby, and he told us the car has been there for several days. Lucky for us the pervert he’s visiting is a nonviolent type. We don’t think he has any weapons in the trailer. But his friend from North Carolina could have weapons in his car. I have seven officers from our SWAT team in place. They’re waiting for us.”

  They soon arrived in a wooded area where more police cars were parked. The sheriff opened his trunk and removed an M-16 assault rifle, as did Detective Stone. They walked about 150 yards to join two officers, who were looking through their binoculars at the trailer, which was an old Scotty unit that had seen better days. A picnic table sat under a large oak nearby. One officer whispered to the sheriff that there hadn’t been any outside activity for more than an hour.

  Louisa didn’t see or hear an air conditioning unit on or near the trailer. She wiped new beads of sweat from her forehead. The late summer heat and the bulletproof vest she wore was taking over out there in the open. It was hot. Suddenly, the screen door of the trailer swung open. Two men emerged with beer bottles in their hands. They were both naked. They sat down on the picnic table and turned on a boom box. After a few minutes, they started to dance to the music. Even from a hundred yards away, Louisa could tell that they were drunk. They danced for a few minutes before the shorter of the two went into the trailer.

  He soon returned with a very small person holding his hand. The small person was naked as well—and appeared to be female.

  “Sure ’nough looks like a young girl,” the deputy said to the sheriff, handing him the binoculars. Louisa squinted as she watched the three bodies holding hands and dancing together.

  The sheriff watched the action through the binoculars for a few more minutes.

  “Them boys have erections, and the taller one has the girl in front of him with her legs spread!” he whispered loudly.

  Without another word, they stood up, drew their weapons, and ran as fast as they could to the picnic table.

  Only the little girl saw them coming.

  * * *

  Quinn continued to watch Father Tony as he said Mass. He was dressed in the traditional, hooded religious habit of the Friars, sandals on his feet. His robe was bound around his waist by a rope, which symbolized being guided by Christ and was tied with three characteristically Franciscan knots that signified the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. He didn’t wear the traditional beard of the Franciscans, however. Instead, a neatly trimmed goatee covered his entire chin.

  Quinn was lost in thought when the sheriff nudged him and signaled that they needed to step outside. He was getting a call from Levi. Quinn’s phone started to vibrate at the same time. It was Louisa. They went out the back door of the church and answered their phones at the same time.

  “Louisa, what have you got?” Quinn asked.

  “Well, Quinn, we found our Surry County pervert right here in good ole Raleigh County, West Virginia. He was shacked up with a bisexual pervert friend. They were sharing someone we thought might be Katie and were about to get it on with her when we charged the trailer. Our boy Wilton was about to butt-fuck her just as we reached them. But what we found was the shortest, twenty- some- year- old, bisexual, female homunculus who was getting it on with both of them. She was so scared when we rushed in that she peed all over Tubbs. She had short, curly hair and, I swear, looked like…Miss Piggy.

  I thought I had seen it all in my days at the Bureau! This was outrageous! So our main person of interest is in the clear. We’re packing it up here and will be back there in two hours. What are you doing?”

  Once he stopped laughing, Quinn asked: “what is a…is a homunculus?” Louisa cracked up before she offered, “Quinn… a midget…a very short horny dwarf!” It took a bit before Quinn recovered and thanked Louisa for the update.

  As Quinn and the sheriff walked toward the sheriff ’s car, they laughed uncontrollably. They wiped the tears from their eyes when the sheriff repeated the words: “a midget…a midget.” When they finally collected themselves, they watched people stream out of church after the service had ended.

  The media staff waited for the Prestons to come out. Tim and Susan spoke to many members of the press before Father Tony joined them. He stood tall and erect, his arms draped over the Prestons’ shoulders.

  The sheriff waited until the media frenzy ended before he and Quinn approached the Prestons, Mary, and Father Tony.

  “ We made some progress on the case this afternoon,” he said after greeting them. “ We found the person-of-interest from Surry County. He’d been staying with a friend of his in West Virginia. Katie wasn’t with them, nor do we believe they were involved in the abduction in any way. To be sure, we’re testing DNA from both of them to see if it matches what we found at the motel on the night of the abduction.”

  “I didn’t know that you were so fortunate to have gotten such a good piece of evidence that night,” said Father Tony.

  “ We were, Father, but we haven’t been able to match it with anything in any databases. We’re still trying. Please do understand that we’re still working as hard as we can twenty-four hours a day to somehow find Katie. We won’t rest until we do.”

  Tim walked toward the sheriff and gave him a long hug.

  “Sheriff, we know that you and your department are doing your best. I hope that all of our prayers and those of the good people in that church tonight are answered soon,” he told him.

  Father Tony looked at the Prestons and said, “Let’s go inside and break bread in the hall with all who brought a plate to share. As tough as it may be, we need to relax a little bit with our friends. Sheriff, will you be joining us tonight?”

  “Unfortunately, I can’t. My wife and I must attend a potluck dinner at our church. But all of us will be praying as well.”

  The sheriff and Quinn walked over to their cars.

  “Sheriff, I’ll talk to Louisa tonight, and we’ll call you tomorrow,” Quinn said as he slid into the Ram.

  The sheriff waved as he drove away. Quinn sat in his truck for a moment and thought it was strange that Father Tony didn’t invite him or Louisa to dinner.

  Odd, he thought.

  CHAPTER 31

  He didn’t know what the new week would bring. Katie had settled into a comfortable, little-girl routine. She slept late each day and took naps in the afternoon. Whenever he could, he would lie in bed with her in the afternoon and wallow in his ecstasy as he held her naked body close to his. He knew that these moments couldn’t continue forever, but the memories would be everlasting—in his videos.

  He entered the room from the little kitchen he had arranged behind the locked room where he had his video recording system set up. The system had worked better than he ever imagined. He got excited when he was away from the room, and he used his iPhone to open the browser where he had the webcam address for his system. The sight of tiny Katie walking around naked in the room and playing with her dollies excited him to no end. He was working on a secure method to transmit short video clips of Katie on the Internet for the world to see what his daughter looked like in all of her little girl, virginal purity. The world should also see what a good daddy he was for his little girl. He only wished he could show them together on the internet, but he knew that was something stupid that would screw everything up. Only he could see the recordings of their new life togethe
r.

  On this day, Katie awoke from her nap with a bit of attitude. She called him Daddy when she was happy. She refused to do that when she was unhappy about something. He offered her the pudding he had made for her. She looked away when he put it down. She didn’t look at him but instead turned the pages in her picture book.

  “Katie, you have to eat your pudding. It’s good for you.”

  She didn’t look at him or respond. He dished out some pudding on a spoon and held it near her mouth. She pushed it away with her free hand.

  He stood up and knew his anger was rising. “Katie, please eat your pudding right now!”

  She finally looked at him and pushed the cup of pudding off the table onto the floor. His anger flared as he swung his left arm back and backhanded her on the side of her head. She fell sideways and broke into tears, covering her eyes as she cried. She curled her little, naked body into the fetal position before him.

  He immediately chastised himself for hitting her. He hadn’t hit her hard, but he knew he shouldn’t have hit her at all. He waited a moment before he sat down next to her on the floor and hugged her.

  “Daddy is sorry for that. Are you all right?”

  Her sniffles continued until they subsided enough for her to talk.

  “Daddy, I want a new dolly for my birthday.” That caught him by surprise.

  “Is it your birthday, my little darling?”

  “I think it is.”

  The irony of the moment struck him, as she now understood what she was doing. She had lost all track of time in her little five-year-old mind but knew that gifts were related to birthdays, so that might reinforce her request for a new dolly if it was her birthday.

  He wondered if this was an opportunity to further bond with his new daughter. He knew what he was thinking was risky, but he could pull it off if he was careful. Extremely careful, he thought.

  “Katie, you know I love you. Would you like to go shopping with me a little later for a new dolly?”

  Her face brightened. “When can we go, Daddy? Can we get an ice cream cone too?”