Oblivion - Debt Collector 13 (A Jack Winchester Thriller)

by Jon Mills

  Kelly peered out the window as a light rain fell. They were parked in a lot across from Temple Street where Dr. Grossman’s office was. Upon arrival they’d gone in and asked to see him but were told he was too busy. Zach had suggested they wait for him to finish his shift as it was near the end of the day and he thought blindsiding him in the parking lot was more likely to get results than arranging a bogus doctor’s appointment.

  “You mind?” Kelly asked as the SUV filled up with cigarette smoke. Zach had lit up without asking. She hated the smell of cigarettes. It stung her nostrils.

  “Oh, sorry,” he muttered bringing the window down and blowing out gray smoke. “You know when this is all over, you and I should get a cottage up here. They say the Adirondacks are a nice place to unwind.”

  “Zach, if you haven’t figured out yet, your chances of getting me into bed are zero! So you might as well give up now.”

  “Who said anything about bed?”

  “Oh please,” she said rolling her eyes and glancing at her phone as Dalton sent her a text updating her on what he’d found out from the kid. She showed Zach the photo of a fragment of a taillight.

  “Looks like there is some weight to Winchester’s story.”

  Zach sucked on the cigarette and blew smoke out of his nostrils. “Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?”

  “What?”

  “Why go to all that trouble? I mean, okay, the guy isn’t a saint. He has a dark past, probably darker than most, but still. Kidnapping his girl, leaving a trail of bodies behind and then setting up Winchester to put him in a forensic mental hospital. You’ve got to be pretty twisted. You think he slept with someone’s daughter?”

  “Oh brother.”

  “What? I’m just saying. New Yorkers aren’t the friendliest people on the planet. I had a friend of mine who dated this girl. She said she was of age. You know, eighteen and whatnot. Anyway, it turned out this gal was sixteen. Can you believe that? I swear there is something in the water as these females today are… well you know…” he said pointing to his chest.

  She chuckled. “This friend of yours. It wasn’t you, was it?”

  His eyed widened. “Me? No. Anyway, the girl’s father was some big shot in Chicago. He put a hit out on this guy. The guy was lucky to survive. Last I heard he flew to some European country.”

  Kelly put her head in her hand as she continued to flick through the photos. She glanced up and saw the secretary come out with an older man, late fifties, glasses, short, wearing a brown suit. He said something to the woman and she nodded and hurried towards her car while he locked up. A moment later he headed for his. Kelly nudged Zach as he was still waffling about younger women looking older than they were. “Let’s go.”

  She hopped out and hurried over to speak to him.

  “Dr. Grossman. Doctor!” she said. He stood beside his large silver truck and looked at her.

  “Can I help you?”

  “Kelly Armstrong. I was in today. Can I get a moment of your time? It’s about Jack Winchester’s case.”

  His face changed from pleasant to shock. “I’m sorry, I don’t have time.” He pressed the key fob to open his truck. Zach cut him off and shouldered the door before he could get in. “All we need is five minutes of your time.”

  “Look, if you don’t get out of the way, I’ll call the cops.”

  Zach narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, I bet they would be really pleased to learn that you fabricated a story.”

  “I didn’t fabricate any story and I don’t appreciate the accusation.”

  Kelly added, “No? So you believed Winchester when he told you that he was in an automobile accident?”

  His brow furrowed. “Look, who are you?”

  “Trouble,” she said turning her phone around and showing him one of the photos Dalton had sent over. “And we have a witness that can verify there was an accident. Now, if I can find out all of this, you can imagine what the cops will uncover with a little help from us. Now do you want to speak with the cops or can I persuade you to get out of the rain and have a cup of coffee with us?”

  10

  Rain pelted the window of the restaurant, droplets wiggled heavy and fast. Dr. Grossman nursed a cup of coffee. Zach sat beside him. Sitting across the table, Kelly emptied a packet of sugar into her cup and stirred.

  “Why wasn’t he taken seriously?” She asked.

  “Would you after finding meth in his system? Look, I was called in to evaluate his mental state. Nothing more. I’m not a police investigator. I wasn’t brought out to Apalachin or told anything beyond who he was, and what crime he’d committed.”

  “But surely you would have passed on the information that Winchester relayed to you.”

  “I made a note of it in my report but Mr. Winchester’s attorneys and the state stipulated and agreed to the facts of the case. Mr. Winchester waived his right to a jury trial, leaving the judge to decide his fate. If he had concerns with what his attorneys were putting forth that was something I assumed he would have discussed with them.”

  “And did he?” Zach asked.

  “I can’t speak to that. You would have to speak with his attorney, Douglas Sanders. All I can tell you is that I found at the time of the crime he met the criteria for insanity defense.”

  “So you weren’t paid by anyone?” Zach asked.

  He scowled, flashing him a sideways glance. “No.”

  “Pressured?” Kelly asked.

  His brow furrowed. “Bringing into question my decision is one thing, questioning my professionalism is another. I did what was required of me as I have done on many cases like this.”

  Kelly nodded. By any measure he appeared to be telling the truth, that or he just had a very good poker face. “When did you learn about Dana Grant, the kidnapping and an automobile accident?”

  “His attorney told me.”

  “So before you sat down and did the evaluation,” Zach added.

  He nodded. “That’s correct.”

  “And what did he tell you?” Kelly asked.

  Grossman cleared his throat and for the first time since starting the conversation, Kelly saw a crack in his facade. “I think you should speak with him regarding that.”

  “If it didn’t sway your opinion of Mr. Winchester, why can’t you tell us?”

  “I think I’ve said enough,” he muttered looking out the window nervously as a dark truck rolled by. Kelly followed his gaze and caught its red taillights before it disappeared around a corner. “You wanted to know my role. That was it. I can’t tell you any more.”

  Kelly nodded.

  “Well that’s not enough, doc,” Zach said. “So what do you think, Kelly? Should we kneecap him or just shoot him in the head?”

  “What?” the doc asked, his eyes widening.

  She smiled. “He’s screwing with you, doc.” She shook her head at him and Zach winked.

  “Look. If the attorney was aware of Jack’s story. Why didn’t anyone look into it?”

  “I just told you.”

  “The meth. Right.”

  “He killed an entire family, Ms. Armstrong. Do you know what he did to the kids and female?” He proceeded to tell her and she nearly threw up in her mouth. “Now do you really think the cops are going to waste valuable time following up some outlandish story about a woman that doesn’t exist, a kidnapping and an automobile accident that didn’t happen?”

  “But it did.”

  “Do you have the vehicle? A body?” He shot back.

  He had a point. Without any of that, it was nothing more than hearsay and going by the text Dalton sent, the teen who had told him was too nervous to come forward. Hell, even if he did, without a name of who was behind it, the police would just be spinning wheels. More than likely the statement would just end up in a report and be filed away never to be looked at. In the eyes of the law once an individual had been sentenced, it took a new defense team and substantial evidence to get things reopened. They didn’t have the time, resources or ev
idence. All they had was circumstantial at best.

  “Do you think I can get a copy of that report you gave to the attorney?”

  “It’s confidential.”

  “So is this meeting but…” Kelly lifted her phone and showed him that she’d been recording it. “It could go public.”

  He balked. “You said this was off the record.”

  “It is for now. So… you think you can find that report?”

  Grossman sighed and downed the remainder of his coffee. “Swing by my office tomorrow and I will give you a copy but after that, we are through. I don’t want to see you, hear from you or speak to you. And I certainly don’t want my name mentioned in an article. You understand?”

  “You got it, doc.” Kelly slid out of the booth as did Zach. “You’ve been very helpful.” She threw down some change and headed for the door.

  “Think he’s telling the truth?” Zach asked, looking over his shoulder.

  “No, but there’s not exactly much we can do.” Kelly shouldered the door.

  “Of course there is. We could torture him.”

  “Zach.”

  “I’m kidding,” he snorted as they made a mad dash for the SUV. Rain beat against her brow, matting her hair to her forehead. As soon as they were inside, Kelly looked back at the restaurant and saw Grossman on his phone. Calling his wife? Or someone who had paid him?

  Zach drove out of town on Southside Drive. Off to their left was the Susquehanna River. Rain fell harder as they discussed the case. They hadn’t made it five minutes out of Owego when headlights lit up their vehicle from behind. Zach squinted. “Asshole has his high beams on.” Zach brought the window down and tried to indicate to the driver but it did nothing. Seconds later they both lurched forward as the large 4 x 4 truck slammed into the back of them, causing their SUV to swerve erratically. Zach managed to keep the tires on the slick road but before he could slow down and pull off, the truck slammed into them again.

  “Speed up!” Kelly said.

  “I’m already over the speed limit.”

  The SUV let out a screech as he swerved to the hard shoulder only to have the truck behind perform a pit maneuver and send their SUV into a spin. Kelly held on for dear life as the world around them flashed before her eyes. Fortunately, Zach managed to stop the vehicle before it flipped or crashed into the steel guard rail. The truck roared past them with its lights off so they couldn’t see the license plate. Zach panted hard, leaning against the steering wheel. “What the heck just happened there?”

  “That looked eerily similar to the one that crawled past the restaurant earlier on.”

  “Shit, Kelly, they don’t pay us enough to do this. I say we call it a day. Fuck Winchester. By the sounds of his history he deserves to be where he is.”

  “This story is bigger than Winchester. We can’t leave now.”

  “You can’t. I can. I’m meant to be on vacation!”

  “No one told you to come here.”

  “Oh that’s right, just throw it back at me,” he said as he fired up the vehicle and slowly rolled out of the hard shoulder. “I’m just saying, a good reporter knows when they are getting too close to the story. Right now, that was close. Too close for comfort. Let’s speak with Dalton and see if we can’t get in and talk with Winchester about the case and then head back to San Francisco.”

  “Or we can call the police,” Kelly said.

  “Police? As if anyone in this county would give a damn. They’d ask too many questions.”

  He made a good point.

  They drove on, shaken up.

  As Dalton sat alone in the restaurant that evening waiting for Kelly to return, he placed a phone call to Karen to check on her and the baby. She didn’t answer so he left a voice mail.

  “Hey, just me. Hope you’re okay. Will try again tomorrow.”

  After hanging up he noticed a brown sedan pull into the lot. He didn’t think anything of it until four men ambled in and the other guest on the far side of the room left. All of them looked like they had stepped out of a bodybuilding event. Their leather jackets and jeans looked several sizes too small. Two sat down across the table, one slid in beside him and the fourth took a seat on a stool by the bar. The owner and waitress disappeared into the kitchen leaving them alone.

  “Hear you’ve been asking about an automobile crash, that right?” a guy with a thick New York accent asked. His hair was swept back, and tattoos covered his knuckles.

  The mission on Skid Row brought in the worst of society, many people were on drugs, most violent. That’s why he didn’t bat an eye when he replied, “Yeah. That’s right.”

  “Who you work for?” the guy asked, as his pal lit a cigarette even though there was a sign on the wall that said no smoking.

  “God.”

  The guy snorted and looked at his pals. As quick as a flash he reached over and grabbed Dalton’s head and slammed it against the table, holding it there. “Then perhaps I should reunite the two of you.” He got really close to his ear. “Whatever you’re doing. Stop. You won’t get a second warning. And whoever you’re working for, go back to them and tell them that you found nothing.” One of the men took his phone and had him open it. They deleted the photos he’d taken of the vehicle debris then looked through his contacts and saw the text message to Kelly.

  “Who’s Kelly Armstrong?”

  “A friend.”

  “Visiting Doctor Grossman?”

  He shrugged.

  The text gave away too many details.

  “Who is she?” The man asked in a threating tone.

  “A reporter,” Dalton replied, his face red from having it squashed against the table.

  “Well you tell her to back off or else.”

  And just like that they got up and left, taking his phone with them. The last thing the guy said as he walked out was, “Now we know where you live.”

  He observed them leaving, and took note of their license plate. It was a yellow, New Jersey. He repeated the numbers and letters in his head over and over until they stuck.

  As soon as they were gone, Dalton hurried around the counter and entered the kitchen where the owner was waiting. “Get out. You’ve brought enough trouble this way.”

  “I just need to use a phone.”

  The owner stabbed a finger towards the door. “No. Get out!”

  He was forced out of the kitchen; the woman wouldn’t listen to reason. Shoved into a night of rain and blustery wind, Dalton shivered under the glow of the restaurant until the owner closed up, turning off the lights. He wasn’t sure how long he waited there before Kelly’s SUV showed up. The first thing he noticed was the damage to the rear. He hurried over and jumped in the back, shivering and dripping wet.

  “What the hell happened to you?” She asked.

  “I was about to ask the same thing,” Dalton replied. “Drive. I’ll explain on the way. Do either of you have a phone?”

  Kelly handed him hers and he made a call that he wished he didn’t have to make.

  It went straight to voicemail. Shit.

  “Karen. Take the baby and head to your mom’s and stay there until I return. You understand? Don’t stay at the house and take anything that has your mother’s address on it. You can reach me back at this number. What’s the number?” he asked Kelly before hanging up.

  “Dalton, what’s going on?” Zach asked.

  He brought them up to speed as they made their way to Owego in preparation for the next morning. Zach got all theatrical. “Well that settles it. We are getting the fuck out of Dodge now!”

  “We can’t go. Not yet,” Kelly said. “Once I have that report.”

  “Oh fuck the report, Kelly. It’s not like it’s going to give us anything. This was a warning. They could have got out and shot us, or killed Dalton. This shit is above our pay grade. I know you want a story but it’s time to pull the plug on this.”

  She didn’t reply immediately, perhaps she was used to his outbursts or knew it was better to
sleep on it before making a decision.

  They ended up getting a motel on the west side of Owego. It was a no-nonsense, two-star abode that wasn’t bad even though Zach complained the moment he saw the dated décor.

  That night Dalton got little sleep. Every sound of a car passing by or pulling up made him look out the drapes. He was certain they were being watched. He figured the kid had ratted on them for some cash as he was the only one that knew they were there. Whatever hope they had of using him as a witness was gone.

  In the early hours of the morning, Dalton got a phone call from Karen. She’d made it to her mother’s and was safe but man, did she ream him out. His ear was still ringing after he ended the conversation. She’d made it clear that if he didn’t return soon, she was staying at her mother’s permanently. While Kelly and Zach slept, he stepped out for some fresh air and to watch the sun rise. He thought a lot about Jack in those early hours. Was he worth it? Was anyone worth it? Could Jack have ever imagined his life turning out the way it had? Although he wanted to walk away, he couldn’t help but feel that wasn’t the right thing to do. He needed to speak to him again, if only to update him, but that would have to wait for now.

  First things first, get the report, speak with the attorney and then get the hell out of there.

  “Morning, sunshine,” Zach said as he stepped out and found Dalton dozing on the bench just outside the door. Zach stretched out and rolled his head around. “My whole body aches. I swear I got whiplash last night.”

  “Maybe it rattled your brain and knocked some sense into you,” Kelly said coming out and closing the door behind her. “Let’s get some coffee and head over to his office. I want to get to him just as they open up.”

  They clambered into the SUV and drove the short five-minute drive into town. As they swung into the parking lot they were met by the sight of an ambulance. Police had already cordoned off the area and were preventing anyone from entering the lot.