Bug Out! Part 11: Motorhomes on the Dark Road

by Robert Boren

  “Why?” Sheriff Branson asked.

  “Because of where the tip came from,” he said. “I can’t tell you the details.”

  “I need to know where the tip came from, or we’re walking right out that door,” Sheriff Branson said, standing up. “No more BS. I don’t work for you.”

  “Relax,” Agent Keith said. “Sit down.”

  “No, you tell me where the tip came from.”

  “Ted Crowley,” he said.

  “Crowley, huh?” Sheriff Branson said. He sat back down. “Serial Killer Task Force?”

  “Yeah, what’s left of it,” Agent Keith said. “The war has put a damper on that team, I’m afraid.”

  “Not surprised,” Sheriff Branson said. “I’m still not getting why you need us. This is a bureau job.”

  Agent Keith sighed. “Remember Margo Valdez?”

  “Yeah,” Sheriff Branson said. “What about her?”

  “There was a plant in the bureau who was passing info to her. We think the same person is passing info to Nighthawk.”

  “Sounds like a job for FBI internal affairs,” Sheriff Branson said, eyeing him with distrust.

  “You’re right, only we don’t know who it is,” Agent Keith said.

  The sheriff sat silently for a moment. Deputy Lawrence looked at him, his expression indicating that he had something to say. Branson leveled his eyes at him again. Shut up.

  “Okay, what do you want us to do?” Sheriff Branson asked.

  “I want you to take a trip with me to Columbus, Ohio,” he said.

  “When?”

  “In a couple of days,” he said. “Got some things to take care of first.”

  “I’ll have to check with the town council,” Sheriff Branson said. “I can let you know later today.”

  “Great,” Agent Keith said. “Give me a call. I don’t care how late.”

  The Sheriff and the Deputy got up and headed for the door. “You’ll be hearing from us, then. Nice to see you again, Agent.”

  “Thanks for coming in, gentlemen,” Agent Keith said, showing them out, closing the door behind them.

  They walked down the long hallway and took the elevator to the parking structure. The Sheriff got behind the wheel and looked over at the Deputy. “Thanks for keeping your mouth shut,” he said.

  “He doesn’t know that you and Ted Crowley are friends, does he?”

  “I hope not,” Sheriff Branson said. “This guy’s full of crap.”

  “So what now?”

  “We get back to the office and call Ted,” Sheriff Branson said.

  “Want me to drive so you can call him from the car?”

  “You know, that’s not a bad idea,” Branson said. “Let’s get out of this structure and drive down a couple blocks, then we’ll switch.”

  Deputy Lawrence nodded as he drove round and round, heading for the parking structure exit.

  The Sheriff parked at a mini mart, and Deputy Lawrence took the wheel. Branson took out his phone as they took off.

  “Ted?”

  “Who’s this?”

  “Dick Branson.”

  “Holy shit, how the hell are you?” Ted asked.

  “Good, Ted. How’s the family?”

  “Very good, Thanks. Yours?”

  “Okay. Don’t see them much these days,” Branson said. “You sound like you’re in a car.”

  “Yeah,” Ted said. “I’m driving into Kansas.”

  “On purpose? What the hell are you up to in Kansas?” Branson asked.

  “Meeting an old friend,” he said. “Remember Malcolm Davis?”

  There was a pause on the line. Sheriff Branson rubbed his forehead.

  “Son of a bitch.”

  “What’s the matter, Dick?”

  “I just had a meeting with Agent Keith of the FBI. Now I have an idea why.”

  “Dammit,” Ted said. “I thought that son of a bitch would have settled down by now. He’s still trying to get Malcolm.”

  “He’s dirty,” Sheriff Branson said. “You know that, right? I need to tell you about what happened at that biker massacre.”

  “Why’d he get involved with that?”

  “Because of what we found in the basement of the farmhouse,” Sheriff Branson said. “I called in the FBI. Too bad it had to be this asshole.”

  “What was in the basement?” Ted asked.

  “Torture chamber,” Sheriff Branson said. “He’s saying the same folks did the bikers, Amanda Smith, and Kayla Duncan. Says it’s the Nighthawk Road Killer.”

  “He might be right about that,” Ted said. “We need to talk in detail.”

  “Yeah, I agree,” Sheriff Branson said.

  “What’d he want to see you for?”

  “He wants us to help him round up the killers in Columbus. Says he can’t use bureau people because of a mole.”

  Ted laughed out loud. “Seriously? What’d you tell him?”

  “I told him I needed to chat with the town council before I could agree. I’m supposed to call him back tonight.”

  “Here’s my suggestion,” Ted said. “Go with him. We’ll beat him at his own game.”

  “What are you doing?” Branson asked.

  “Malcolm Davis, George Franklin, and I are going to Columbus. They’re in Kansas right now. I’ll be there in a couple of hours.”

  Branson smiled. “This might be fun.”

  “Damn straight,” Ted said. “I’ll tell you what. After I get settled with Malcolm and George, let’s do a conference call.”

  “Look forward to it,” Branson said. “I’ll call Agent Keith and reluctantly agree to help him.”

  “Talk to you soon,” Ted said.

  Chapter 12 – Double Double Cross

  General Hogan came back into the clubhouse. He walked over to Frank and Jasmine.

  “The others still watching that VHS?” he asked.

  Frank sighed. “Yeah. What’s up?”

  “You guys were right about the lead. They’re building shelters. Call up this satellite.” He slipped Frank a piece of paper. Frank typed on his keyboard and logged into the satellite.

  “See, look at those modular houses there,” he said.

  “They look like double wides,” Frank said. Jasmine looked over Frank’s shoulder.

  “There’s enough of those for a thousand men?”

  “That’s only part of them. Move to the south about two miles.”

  Frank navigated south and gasped. “There’s an industrial park that close?”

  “Yeah,” General Hogan said. “It’s abandoned.”

  “They know they can’t win, so why go through this?” Jasmine asked. “Why not just make for Mexico and slip out through a harbor or something?”

  “They aren’t interested in getting away,” General Hogan said. “These are true believers. The ones who refused to surrender. They’re planning on taking as many Yankees down as they can on their way to the great beyond.”

  “Oh, yeah, the 72 virgins,” Jasmine said, laughing. “So what do we do?”

  “You really believe they think this will work?” Frank asked. “They have to know we’ll see this. They understand the capabilities of our satellite systems, and they know we’ve taken them out in their shielded vehicles.”

  “I need to think on this for a while,” General Hogan said. “You have a good point Frank. Talk to you later.”

  ***

  The VHS tapes were still running. It had been hours. They were on the third girl. Jane had enough. Jerry was nearing the end of his rope too. Malcolm finally quit watching and fired up his laptop. George and Heidi still watched, but both of them looked uncomfortable, almost shell shocked.

  “You guys had enough?” Malcolm asked, turning from his laptop screen.

  “Yeah,” George said. “What now?”

  “We go get Sherry. I have her address and the make, model, and license plate of her car.”

  “You’re going to go get her?” Trish asked.

  Malcolm smiled.
“You didn’t think I was going to let her go after all that, did you?”

  “Good,” George said. “I thought it was just me.”

  “We need to take off now if we’re going to nab her,” Heidi said.

  “Yeah, let’s go,” Malcolm said. He switched off the tape, and they left the lounge, heading up to the barn.

  “We killing her or bringing her back to a cell?” Heidi asked.

  “That’ll be up to her,” Malcolm said. “I want to see if we can enlist a little help.”

  “You don’t think the three of us can take her?” George asked.

  “I want somebody along as back-up just in case,” Malcolm said. “We assume she’s alone. She might have pieces of a clan left. Nobody gets into that with the zeal she did and just stops.”

  “Who do you want to take?” Heidi asked.

  “The Sheriff and Charlie, if they’re willing.”

  “You want the law enforcement experience,” she said.

  “Damn straight.”

  They walked over to the Sheriff’s rig. He was sitting in front of it with Jackson, sipping whiskey and talking.

  “Done with the home movies?” Jackson asked.

  “We saw what we needed to see,” Malcolm said. “Sheriff, you drink much of that whiskey?”

  “Nah, not too much,” he said. “Why?”

  “We’re going to go get Sherry,” Malcolm said.

  “You’re going to what?” the Sheriff asked, sitting up straighter.

  “C’mon, Sheriff, you didn’t think I was going to let her get away with that, did you?” Malcolm said, a sly grin on his face.

  The Sheriff smiled. “I was starting to lose respect for you. It’s been restored. You know where she is?”

  “I’ve got her address and the make, model, and license plate of her car,” Malcolm said. “I was figuring that George, Heidi, and I cruise up there and see if she’s left yet. Maybe you and Charlie could come along for backup.”

  “I’m good, but I’m not sure Charlie will go along. What are we gonna do with her?”

  “If we can take her alive, I say we dump her in a cell until it’s a good time to turn her and the evidence over to the cops,” Malcolm said. “She might have people with her though. We need to be careful.”

  “What makes you think that?” Jackson asked.

  “She wasn’t coerced into that garbage on the tapes. She was into it. Probably killed her husband too, by the way. There are others more recent. She’s been active during the past six months, from the look of things.”

  “You’re thinking she might have a clan left?” the Sheriff asked.

  “Yeah,” Malcolm said.

  “What if there are several?” Jackson said. “We bringing all of them back here?”

  “If there’s several, they won’t live through this,” Malcolm said, grinning.

  “Alright if I go along?” Jackson asked.

  “Fine by me, but you hang back with a rifle. You’ve had too much whiskey to be in the thick of it,” the Sheriff said. “Let’s go talk to Charlie. He’s in his rig.”

  They walked through the dusk to Charlie’s rig. He and Hilda were inside, sitting at the dinette. The Sheriff knocked on the door.

  “Charlie, could we chat for a moment?”

  “Be right out,” Charlie said, getting up. He came out and joined them. “What’s going on?”

  “Our friends here want to go nab Sherry. They’re asking for a little experienced police backup. You interested?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “I’ll get dressed and get my guns.”

  “What’s that?” Hilda asked, coming to the door.

  “We’re going to go pick up Sherry,” Charlie told her.

  Hilda got a worried look on her face when she saw the others outside. “This sounds dangerous.”

  “It’ll be okay,” Charlie said, putting on his holster and slipping his pistol in. “The Sheriff and I are going as backup.”

  “Okay,” she said reluctantly. “You bringing her back here?”

  “If we can,” Malcolm said. “It’ll be up to her.”

  “Why are you doing this?” Hilda asked. “I thought you had a deal with her.”

  “We did,” Malcolm said. “We just watched several hours of her torturing and killing young girls with relish. I thought she was coerced into this. Didn’t look like it to me.”

  “Hey, what about Ted?” George said. “When does he get here?”

  “Oh, shoot, that’s right,” Malcolm said. “I’ll call him.”

  Malcolm hit Ted’s contact on his phone and put it to his ear.

  “Ted?”

  “Hey, Malcolm. What’s up?”

  “How close are you?”

  “Maybe an hour,” he said. “Why?”

  “That woman I told you about. The one that was watching Howard’s truck stop.”

  “Yeah, Sherry Holcomb,” Ted said.

  “You found out her last name?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “She’s bad news. I don’t think we can let her get away.”

  “Yeah, that’s what we’re thinking after watching about three hours of VHS,” Malcolm said.

  “You’re going to get her now?”

  “Yep.”

  “Give me the address,” Ted said. “I’ll swing by there before I hit the RV Park, unless I hear from you first,” he said. “You still have the Jeep?”

  “Yeah, Jeep Unlimited, and we’ll have another Jeep with us. Two door.”

  “Address?”

  Malcolm read it off to him, along with the car info. “Got it?”

  “Yeah, Malcolm. See you soon.”

  Malcolm put his phone away. “You mind bringing your Jeep, George?”

  “Sure, no problem. Ted’s going to meet us there, isn’t he?”

  “Yeah, but he’s about an hour out,” Malcolm said. “Let’s go.”

  ***

  Howard and Scott sat in the kitchen. Scott was on his laptop. Bailey came in.

  “Kerry’s in bed,” she said. “What’s going on?”

  “We’ll fill you in later,” Scott said. “We have an immediate task to do.”

  “Really? What’s that?”

  “We need to go grab that girl who pepper sprayed us.”

  “Good,” she said.

  “Scotty, you sure this is a good idea? Maybe we should spend our time getting ready for Malcolm and the Spook.”

  “Who’s that?” Bailey asked.

  “Oh, they’re serial killer hunters, or so they fancy themselves,” Scott said.

  “Be honest,” Howard said, eyes narrowing. “These guys killed Red Dagger, Jason Beckler, Earl Wilson, and others. Don’t make it sound like we’re not in danger. That won’t help us.”

  “Wait, you mean Malcolm Davis?” Bailey asked.

  “Yeah,” Howard said. “They were trying to use Sherry against us.”

  “She told you that?” Bailey asked.

  “Yes, she did,” Scott said. “And I believe her.”

  “So why go get the girl?” Bailey asked.

  “For fun and revenge,” Scott said. “You in?”

  “Of course,” Bailey said. “I want that bitch.”

  “Well, I found her,” Scott said. “All these kids and their phone apps. Ever heard of Find My Friends?”

  “Yeah, it’s that app that comes on the iPhone.”

  “That’s it,” Scott said. “Easy to hack. I just got into her account. She’s in this dorm room right now.” Scott showed his screen to Bailey.

  “Whoa,” Bailey said. “So now what? We can’t get her in the dorm. People will see us.”

  “We need to get into the area and watch,” Scott said. “You’ve got an iPhone, right?”

  “Yeah,” she said.

  “Good, then I’ll get you set up to monitor her. Hand it over.”

  “It’s in my purse,” she said, trotting off to the living room.

  “Really, Scotty? I can’t talk you out of this crap?” Howard asked quietly.


  “No, you can’t, Howie. Now get with the program.”

  “We’ll get pinched as soon as we get my class C out on the roads.”

  “What makes you think we’re taking that?” Scott asked, grinning. “We’ll take the car that came with this place.”

  “What car?”

  “An 85 Chevy station wagon. It’s in the garage. I’ve had the battery on the charger. It’s clean. The old lady quit driving it in about 1995. Didn’t take much to get it running again.”

  “We’ll have to kill her on the scene, then,” Howard said. “People will see her in the windows.”

  “Let’s decide when we get there,” Scott said.

  “Here’s my phone,” Bailey said, handing it over. Scott took it and got her set up to monitor the girl.

  “What’s her name?” Howard asked.

  “Michelle Hamilton, from Atlanta,” Scott said. “You guys ready?”

  “What about Kerry?” Howard asked.

  “Does he read?” Bailey asked.

  “Good question,” Scott said. “Haven’t gotten around to asking.”

  “I’ll leave him a short note,” Bailey said. “Just in case.”

  “Okay,” Scott said. He got up, looking at Howard. “Coming?”

  “Yeah, I guess,” he said, standing as Bailey wrote the note.

  They went out the back door and walked to the garage. Scott unlocked the padlock and lifted the door.

  “It’s dark back here,” Bailey said.

  “That’s a good thing,” Howard said. He pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and shined the flashlight into the garage, at the silver station wagon. The garage was cluttered, with barely enough room to get to the car door. The hood was up. Scott disconnected the battery charger, set the wires next to the charging unit, and unplugged it.

  “Keep your fingers crossed,” Scott said as he shut the hood.

  “I thought you said it runs,” Howard said.

  “It’s been a couple of months,” Scott said as he got behind the wheel. He turned the ignition. The car did a dry grind for over a minute. Scott stopped and waited for a few seconds, then tried again. The car turned over slower, but then caught, starting, spewing black smoke. Bailey and Howard backed up to get away from it. The car sunk to an idle, then backed out slowly.

  “Get in,” Scott said. “Put your guns on the floor in front of you.”