Crimson Blood (Max Sawyer Book 4)

by Douglas Pratt

  The first box I pulled out from under the bed was a fireproof box with a combination lock. Bobby hadn’t locked it. Not that five minutes with a solid screw driver or thirty seconds with Leo’s hammer wouldn’t have opened it anyway. It was the kind of box that one would hide his copy of Hustler in so that his mother never found it.

  Bobby thought the same way. There were several DVD’s and stacks of pictures printed on regular paper. At the bottom were even some old Polaroids. The pictures were of kids. Some included Bobby and Morgan together. There faces were evident in these. They were for their personal use.

  A woman showed up in a couple too. She was in her forties, and at least ten years older than Bobby and Morgan were. If I were a gambling man, I would guess this might be Maggie Thompson. One of the girls resembled Becca, and I guessed it might be her little sister. These poor kids.

  Carrying the box into the den, I dropped it in Bobby’s lap.

  “Are these yours?”

  He didn’t answer. Leo flashed past me, and the hammer crunched against his kneecap. Bobby howled, and I grabbed the tape. In seconds, I had his mouth closed.

  I took one of the DVD’s and turned on the television. When the video started, Leo turned away. When something disturbs him, it has to be bad. The video was shot in a much nicer house than Morgan’s or Bobby’s. A young Becca was on the bed in the frame wearing lingerie that was too big for her. Keller came into the view and started talking to her. She didn’t seem nervous as one might expect, but then that thought revolted me. She was used to it at this point. This thirteen or fourteen year old girl was used to this treatment.

  I ejected that disc and put one of the other’s in the player. It started with Bobby and a boy about seven or eight. Within seconds, Morgan and Nick, Mr. High and Tight, were in the scene with two girls a little older than the boy.

  Leo’s eyes squinted, and he looked at me. He pulled a Smith and Wesson 22 from his waistband and shot Bobby between the eyes. The suppressor on the barrel softened the sound.

  “Let’s go find those kids,” he said.

  I took the disc with Keller on it. With two clicks of the remote, I turned the video to loop the playback. Whoever found Bobby would know very quickly why he was dead.

  26

  “Did you find out where Keller is?”

  “Yeah, at some ranch he is building up near Tennessee.”

  “Ranch? Wait, his company bought hundreds of acres up there. Seems like whatever project it was got scrapped.”

  “Sounds like maybe not. He didn’t give me details, so you better do your thing and find the house,” Leo said.

  “What about the kids? Do we get them first, or do we get Keller?” I asked.

  “From a purely strategic train of thought, we should take out Keller. But, I don’t want those kids with that woman and who knows what else a minute longer.”

  “Agreed. What do we do with these kids when we get them?”

  “I don’t know. I would say the state needs to be apprised, but Keller most likely greased the palms he needed to keep them off his back already.”

  “How far away is Lindsay?”

  “An hour.”

  “We take the kids up there. For now. Then we get them to someone in Tennessee.”

  Leo pointed to a sign with an arrow pointing east that said “Ford City 10 Miles.”

  “Go that way then,” I said.

  Scrolling through the web, I tried to find the article I read the other day about the land purchase that Keller’s company made. A few minutes later I had it. The article was from a paper in Savannah, Tennessee. An image of a map showed an outline around the five hundred acres of land being purchased by Rankin, Incorporated.

  “Got it.” I opened up the maps app on my phone. Zooming into the map, I was able to find the roads leading to the property. State highway 10 seemed to be the best option. The satellite map didn’t show any structures, only lots of forested areas.

  “We will be going in somewhat blind,” I said.

  “Maybe I should have asked Bobby how many guys Keller had.”

  “Hindsight and all.”

  Ford City was an unincorporated community that consisted of a dollar store, a bank, a hardware store and cotton fields. A historic sign regaled the story of Henry Ford’s plans in the 1920’s to build a large community around an industrial site. The project failed, or never came to fruition, and the results were fields that had been purchased and subdivided with street lights and curbing overgrown with scrub brush and weeds.

  Magnolia Street was off the main road leading into this little wide spot in the road. The whole length of Magnolia was about a quarter mile.

  Leo turned on the street that had about twelve houses on it. The lots were all big, and the houses ranged from a two bedroom shanty to larger brick homes. Ford City didn’t seem to have a home owner’s association cracking down on building structures.

  Leo stopped in front of a house. Without an address, we were going to be guessing at which one Maggie Thompson kept the children. The home that Leo stopped in front of was almost definitely it. The house itself was a two story colonial that was very well maintained. A ten foot wooden fence framed in the back yard that I guessed was at least an acre large. The front yard was lined with a wrought iron fence with an automatic gate.

  “Is it just me,” Leo asked, “or does that fence look expensive?”

  “No, that is a little over the top for the neighborhood.”

  “How do we want to handle this?”

  I shook my head. “There are kids here. We need to do this peacefully.”

  “I don’t like to kill women,” Leo added.

  Glancing at him, I said, “That’s good to know.”

  I grabbed two pair of gloves from Leo’s bag.

  The problem was going to be how to get her to open the gate. We got out of the truck and walked up to the gate. The problem resolved itself quickly. Leo reached through the gate to the metal box that held the motor.

  “These gate motors have a release on them,” he said. “In case the power goes out, or the motor dies you aren’t trapped inside your property.”

  “That’s good to know. How did you know that?”

  “Are you kidding? Every base I’ve been on has automatic gates somewhere.”

  Within a minute, Leo had popped open the cover and found the release. He stood back up and grabbed the gate. It opened easily.

  “You are most handy to have around,” I commented.

  “Lots of government money went into training me for this kind of stuff.”

  We walked up the driveway to the front porch. The house was eerily quiet for housing at least six children. I rang the door bell. There were no sounds of little feet running or the screaming din of children.

  “Maybe it’s nap time,” Leo said.

  “Maybe it’s the wrong house,” I responded.

  Leo smiled. “Glad we went in peaceful then.”

  The door opened. A tall red-haired woman opened the door. She was in her fifties, and the muscle definition in her arms indicated she liked to stay in shape.

  “How did you get in the gate?” she asked.

  I pointed over my shoulder. “It’s open.”

  Her eyes followed the direction of my hand to the opened gate. “Oh, I thought I shut it,” she said confused.

  “Ma’am, we are with the state health and human services department,” Leo improvised.

  “On a Sunday?”

  “Yes,” I answered. “We are just here for a quick inspection. Are you Ms. Maggie Thompson?”

  “Yes,” she said with caution. She wasn’t buying our story. “I need to make a phone call to verify this.”

  She pushed the door closed, but not before Leo stuck his foot in the door jamb. He pushed it open and stepped inside.

  “Guess we will do it the hard way,” he said.

  “What is going on here?” she demanded as I followed Leo inside and shut the door.

  “Where are the k
ids?” I asked.

  Maggie Thompson trembled at the question. Then she answered, “It’s nap time.”

  “See, I told you,” Leo quipped.

  “She’s lying.”

  “I know, I just wanted to appreciate the irony.”

  “Where are the kids?” I repeated the question.

  “They are asleep upstairs.” She was more confident this time.

  “I’m checking,” I told Leo.

  I left him staring at Mother Maggie as I went up the stairs. The house was neat and cleaned. Not like six kids lived here. A child gate was installed at the top of the stairs. The first real indication that kids might be here.

  There were four doors upstairs. All closed. I opened the first one. Definitely a child’s bedroom. Three twin beds were in there. They were unmade and empty.

  The second door looked the same, however there were two kids sleeping. Both were less than four years old. I was guessing they were two to three years old. The third room was another kids room with three empty beds.

  The door at the end was the master bedroom. This was definitely Mother Maggie’s space. It had a keyed lock on the door. It was unlocked right now. So I went in.

  There was a queen size bed and a large television hung on the wall. The room also had a couch, and a master bath with a whirlpool and a big shower.

  I rummaged through her drawers. Most people hide things the same way. So it doesn’t take long to find the goodies. Mother Maggie had lots of toys and videos. The videos were at least professional adult porn, even if it veered toward a more alternative lifestyle.

  She had a lap top on a small desk. Lucky for me it was already on. I scrolled through her videos and pictures. She had some of the same home made videos. Their were over a hundred pictures of different kids. All of the children were nude, with full body shots.

  Her emails were bland and innocent. She could have been using an anonymous email server or an onion server somewhere. I closed the computer and took it with me.

  “Are there kids asleep up there?” Leo asked as I came down the stairs.

  “Yeah, two,” I answered. “No one else though.”

  “That’s my computer,” she said.

  “Yes, with lots of interesting pictures and videos.”

  Her eyes widened.

  “Where are the other kids?”

  “I only have two.”

  “Is that what Bobby told us?” I asked Leo.

  “No, I think he said you had six or seven.”

  Staring at us, she said nothing.

  “Do you want to tell us?”

  “I need a lawyer,” she said..

  Leo laughed. “You are kidding right? Do you know where Bobby is? Or Jackson Morgan? Or…what was his name?”

  “Lonnie,” I supplied.

  “Yeah, Lonnie.”

  “Who are you?”

  I stepped forward and punched her in the face bloodying her nose. It was the first time I ever hit a female. I was raised by my father to know that it was never okay to hit a woman. I almost felt guilty about it too. But I hated that this woman could destroy these kids.

  Leo was equally surprised by my action. He stood back though, silent and rigid.

  “I’m the last person to ever see Becca alive. Now, my friend doesn’t like to kill women, but at this moment I want to rip your head off with my bare hands. So you have one choice. One! You can tell me where the other kids are, or I can kill you and find them myself.”

  “They with one of the doctor’s guys. He is taking them to the ranch.”

  “The ranch again,” Leo commented.

  “What’s at the ranch?”

  “It’s like a retreat place that Doctor Keller wanted to start. He figured he could cater to certain men’s wants. Especially if it gave him some leverage.”

  “Seriously?” Leo raged.

  “How long has this been going on?” I asked.

  “The retreat? He just built it. The kids he took were the second group.”

  “No, how long have you and he been doing this?”

  She didn’t answer.

  “Answer me!” I screamed.

  “I’ve known Bill since I was a girl. I was nine. He was in his twenties. Virginia used to baby sit me. That’s how we started. I’ve been with him since. I would baby sit kids, and Bill and Virginia would come over. He was a doctor then.”

  “Why don’t you get the kids from upstairs?” I asked Leo.

  He nodded.

  “Do you have a gun in the house?” I asked.

  She nodded.

  “In your room?”

  Another nod.

  “Let’s go,” I directed her upstairs.

  Leo had two sleeping children in his arms as he came past us on the stairs.

  “Where is the gun?” I asked.

  She pointed to the closet where I found a revolver with six rounds. I removed all but one round.

  “I’m not so much with him. I actually want to kill you. But you have a choice.”

  She stared at me. I opened the laptop.

  “You can confess everything. And I mean, everything. Then you get this one bullet to get out.”

  I set the revolver on the desk.

  “Understand me. Before today is through, Keller will be dead, and this will be out. You can run, but you won’t get far. Even if the police don’t find you, I will.”

  She didn’t say anything. I pressed the record button and walked out of the room.

  27

  “What do we do with these two?” Leo asked pointing at the two sleeping children.

  “I don’t know. We could take them to Lindsay.”

  “We need a babysitter here though. We need to get to that ranch now.” Leo was determined and angry.

  I pulled out my phone and called Lindsay.

  “Hey, it’s Max.”

  “Is everything okay?” she asked.

  “Yes, but we need a babysitter. Who do you trust implicitly to watch two babies? They have to be able to keep their mouth shut about where they got them.”

  “I have a friend named Jessica. She loves kids. Let me call her.”

  “Okay, we need to get them to someone soon. We cannot trust any of the officials here. She may have them for awhile until we sort some things out here.”

  “I’ll call you back,” she said hanging up.

  Leo drove slow as we headed back to town. His eyes moving from the road to the mirror to check on the two.

  “We need car seats,” he worried.

  “I agree,” I said, “but we can’t stop and get them now. Drive super carefully.”

  “Did you let her go?” he asked.

  “I gave her a choice. I hope she chose the right thing.”

  “It’s going to be dark in a bit. That should be good for us.”

  I agreed. “Wish we had time to scope it out during the daylight.”

  “No time,” Leo said.

  My phone rang.

  “A friend of mine will watch them no questions asked. Maybe give her some money for food though.”

  “Thanks, Linds. Let her know that she doesn’t know where they came from. She found them in a dumpster or something.”

  “I did.”

  “Good, are you doing okay?” I asked her.

  “Bored out of my mind. Watching some terrible sci-fi marathon about tarantula sharks. I’m starting to question my life choices.”

  “I’m sorry about that,” I said with a chuckle.

  “Hey, Max.”

  “Yeah,” I answered.

  “I was thinking. I like the idea of us being friends, maybe more.”

  “Me too,” I said.

  “I think as a friend, you should consider taking me someplace nicer than the Waynesboro, Tennessee’s finest lodge.”

  “Really, well I can probably arrange something for all the trouble you’ve been through.”

  “Someplace with a beach would be nice, with a limited dress code.”

  “Oh, I do like sand
.”

  “Be careful, Max.”

  “I will.”

  “Tell Leo, I love him.”

  “Bye, Linds.”

  I hung up.

  “She’s got spark, that one,” Leo said.

  I smiled, “Yeah, she says she loves you.”

  “I know. They all do.”

  I gave him the address to drop off the children. Leo crossed the the bridge, and we rode in silence. I thought about a week earlier, I hadn’t even met Lauren. I never even had an inkling of the reach or exploitation of children this way. I’d heard about some celebrity getting arrested for child porn. Those were just news stories that could give me the shock and awe. Did anyone ever stop the flow?

  I was reminded of one of my father’s favorite quotes. John F. Kennedy made it famous, but he was quoting someone else. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing.” My father had that quote etched on a plaque in his office. He would explain to me that the days would come when we all see an evil that we had to rise against. He also told me how evil was sublime. Sneaking into our lives and setting up shop, so that we see it as just a part of life. Like a single weed in a garden, or a small hole in the roof.

  How many kids had Keller shuttled through his little brothel? What happened to them? No one in this state thought it prudent to stop him. Those who didn’t know what he was really doing were blinded by his power, his faux generosity, and their own desires.

  Now the garden is overgrown. The roof is caving in. A week ago, I didn’t even know there was a garden. When we were through, it was surely going to be a mess.

  Leo pulled up to a curb. Lindsay’s friend lived in an apartment near the university. The two children were waking up and confused. We each carried one up the stairs.

  I knocked on the door, and a blond girl opened the door.

  “Jessica?” I asked.

  “Are you Max?” she asked.

  “You were expecting other children?” I said with a smile.

  She smiled back. “No, come in.”

  “Did Lindsay tell you what’s going on?” I asked.