Out the window, I saw Kerry running naked across the yard toward the woods.
I turned my head to Mother Maggie. She stared up at me through raccoon eyes. Tears and mascara streaming down her face, she held one hand to her head.
Movement behind me made me turn. A little girl sat in the corner naked. Her knees drawn to her chest.
I moved to her. “Sweetie, are you okay?”
She nodded, but her eyes were scared. She wasn’t crying. She probably couldn’t anymore.
“Can you walk?”
She nodded again.
“Okay, I need you to walk into the next room and sit down. We are going to get you somewhere safe very soon. Okay?”
Silently, she nodded again and stood up. When I heard the door shut to the other room, I stood back up and walked to Mother Maggie.
Her teary eyes had dried replaced with an indignant glare.
“Maggie, you made the wrong choice,” I said. Then I shot her between the eyes.
I returned to the den where Leo had separated the children from the perverse men.
“Kids,” I said. “I need you to come with me.”
The children followed me, and I put them all in the room with the other little girl.
“We are going to get all of you someplace safe, where people like this can’t hurt you. Right now, though, we need you to stay here.”
When I got back into the den, Leo asked, “Where’s Keller?”
“What do you think you are doing here? Do you know who I am?” one of the men demanded.
Without moving his eyes from me, Leo shot the man in the head.
“Just to clarify,” he said in a commanding voice, “you are all child rapists. Which means, if I choose to shoot you, then I am in my God given right. I’m pretty sure, it’s biblical.”
The other five men stared silently.
“Keller took off for the woods,” I said. “Mother Maggie is dead.”
“You want me to track him down?” Leo asked.
“No, I’ll go get him. You going to do something with them?”
Leo looked at the line of men and grinned. “What do you think?”
“Personally, I think the one who talks the most about Keller’s operation gets to live.”
“Good idea,” Leo said.
Leo winked at the men. Fear washed over all of them.
“Don’t forget the guy on the deck. I didn’t kill him. But I doubt he will be able to talk to you.”
“Yeah,” Leo said. “Good job on the improv.”
Leo unclipped something from his belt. “Here,” he said tossing me a flashlight.
I opened the door and stepped into the dark.
31
The night was darker, or at least appeared so to me as I walked across the clearing. My eyes hadn’t adjusted again to the dark. I clipped the flashlight to my belt.
Keller had been running this way. He had a few minutes head start, but then he was naked, and likely barefoot. When I reached the woods I listened. Save the symphony of insects, there was no sound.
As a kid, I would go hunting with my father. Tom, my father’s best friend, and his son would often go too. Tom was an avid hunter who joked that he had Native American ancestry that dated back to the Osage Indians in West Arkansas. I figured most of that was Tom’s personal line of crap, but he did know how to track animals. The only thing I ever picked up though was to listen to the sound of the insects.
I did. The music seemed to surround me. As I tilted my head though, I found that there was a range that was quieter to the west of me. I crept that direction.
Unfortunately, my creeping was still loud. Perhaps, that was a lesson I would need from Leo.
I moved through the trees. My eyes had adjusted well, and with the beams of moonlight coming through, the trees and brush were visible. Shadows still loomed and fell with wicked design. This would be a beautiful fall evening to spend by a campfire and not hunting down a wretch like Keller.
Shuffling of leaves resounded through the woods to my left. I unclipped the flashlight with my left hand and raised it over the barrel of the gun. Each step I made was calculated. I tried to crush as few leaves as possible as I picked my way toward the noise.
Within twenty feet of the movement, I could still see nothing in the dark. I flipped the flashlight on, and a beam of intense white light erased the dark. The shuffling stopped. I stared into the circle of light until two beady eyes blinked at me. A possum was rooting through the leaves for a dinner of ticks and bugs.
I extinguished the light and listened. I heard footfalls and an audible grunt to my east. The cacophony of insects was quiet in that direction, and I moved toward the footsteps.
I didn’t run, but I picked up my pace. The flashlight had likely given away my location anyway. Keller had spooked and decided to run.
I stopped every couple of steps to listen to the direction of his movement. He wasn’t moving fast, but then running through the woods barefoot in the dark would not be conducive to speed. I was getting closer.
After another minute, I stopped to listen and heard silence. No bugs, no rustling of leaves, no footsteps. I stood motionless and held my breath, listening to the silence.
After a few seconds of total silence I could hear him. He was winded and breathing fast. He was trying to keep quiet, but even the quick intakes of air began to sound louder as I focused on them. He was to my right. Not far, maybe thirty feet. I turned slowly till I faced the direction of the breathing.
The light, again, illuminated the forest. About forty feet away, a white form was hunched behind a tree.
“Keller,” I said. “I have you.”
He didn’t move.
“You can run all night for all I care. But it’s time to man up.”
The figure stood and turned to me. His eyes were like a wild animal. He wanted to run, but he knew I would kill him before he could get far. He was probably trying to figure out if I would kill him, anyway.
I moved toward him with the gun aimed at his chest. At this range, if he ran, I could hit my target before he took two steps.
“Just so I can clarify for you, Keller. You don’t own me.”
Keller sneered. “You are a pain in the ass, Mr. Sawyer. I keep thinking I’ve killed you.”
“Yeah, I guess you should be better at it.”
He put his hands behind his head in surrender. “I just don’t understand why you cared enough to begin with.”
“That’s the funny thing. Do you see the irony?”
Keller snorted, “Had I let Becca leave with the money, then you would never have come here?”
“Yeah, that’s pretty much it. Then I see what a sick bastard you and your lot are. I don’t like that.”
“Do you realize the connections you have in that house right now? There’s a senator and an attorney general in there. Not to mention two CEO’s of energy conglomerates. You could control them with what you know.”
“Like you did?”
“Sure, once you give someone something forbidden, you have them by the balls.”
“Yeah, that all sounds like a lot of work.”
“But you could be like me, the most powerful man in the state.”
I shook my head. “Keller, the most powerful man in the state is running naked through the woods. That doesn’t sound ideal to me.”
“Sawyer, you are smart. We could make this work.”
“Except for two things. One, I have morals. I never thought they were that great until I met your sorry ass. Two, you’re dead.”
I pulled the trigger and watched Keller’s body jerk as the bullet ripped through his sternum.
I walked over to him. He lay on his back gurgling blood.
32
I trudged in the direction I thought the house was. Eventually, house lights appeared and guided me out of the woods. When I walked inside, I found the den empty. Sounds of movement came from a hallway on the opposite end of the house from where I left Mother Magg
ie.
Holding the 45 up, I ventured down the hallway. Leo was in the last room, an office it appeared. He had a file cabinet open and was leafing through files with gloved fingers.
“What did you do with the others?” I asked.
“They have a large walk in freezer in the kitchen,” he remarked. “They are chilling there.”
Rolling my eyes at his pun, I asked, “Alive?”
“For now. They better get real comfortable with each other if they want to stay warm though. Keller?”
“He’s down. Find anything?” I asked.
“Not yet. Check the computer,” he said tossing me a pair of rubber gloves and pointing to the desk.
The computer opened up, and I started fishing through the files. The video folder was full, and I opened a few videos. There were obviously cameras throughout the ranch house.
The video that came up showed the den with two men talking to two children. After a minute, one of the men took off his pants. I closed the screen. I was getting tired of the same damned scenario.
On the desktop of the computer was a folder marked Keller. I opened it to find a spreadsheet file that contained thirty-two names with addresses and phone numbers. Several were foreign numbers that I didn’t recognize. Each name listed another name, but just a first name, with a dollar amount. The dollar amounts were in the millions.
“Leo,” I said. “Look at this.”
A second later, he was leaning over my shoulder reading. He touched the screen in four spots.
“These numbers are all in the Middle East. These three look like they might be Dubai.”
“What does this look like?” I asked.
“Not good. These look like records of sales maybe.”
“The bastard was selling the children too?”
“Maybe. Print that list.”
I obeyed. The printer to the side hummed before two pages were sent into the tray.
“Think he had a list of all the children?” I asked.
“Who knows. Maybe somewhere.”
Leo opened a cabinet. “Hello, there,” he said.
I looked and saw a small lock box. Leo bent over the box for about thirty seconds before he leaned back with the lid open. Stacks of bills were in the box.
“Looks like about five million,” Leo said.
“That’s a drop in the bucket, compared to what he probably has elsewhere.”
“We’ll leave the Feds to find that money,” Leo said.
“We need to get these kids someplace.”
“Yeah, any ideas.”
“No, but I do need to make a call,” I said as I stood up.
I found Trevor Lee’s number and called his house.
“Hello,” he said.
“Trevor, this is your friend from earlier. I have a tip for you. Dr. William Keller was a sick bastard. He is a child rapist, pornographer, and slaver.”
“You have to be kidding me,” Lee said.
“And, of course, murderer.”
“Do you have proof?” he asked.
I gave him the location of the ranch. “My suggestion is you get here and get the evidence before the police arrive. Bring a solid witness with you that can attest that you arrived after.”
“After what?”
“Just after. This is anonymous of course. I may reach back out to you later.” I hung up the phone.
“You sure he wasn’t on the take?”
“Doesn’t matter. After today, he won’t be worried about Keller.”
“He’ll be worried about you?”
Leo took the paper with the names and folded it twice before putting it in his pocket.
“Let’s go have a talk with your freezer pops,” I said. “Did any of them talk to you?”
“Oh, they all started blabbing. One guy was in tears because he said he didn’t know about this till he got here today. He didn’t know how to back out.”
“Spineless,” I said.
“One said that Keller tricked him the first time with a young girl he thought was eighteen. Turned out she was thirteen. After that, Keller already had him hooked.”
“Let’s go, then.”
We found the five remaining men huddled together in the freezer. One man raised his hand as if to ask a question.
“What?” I asked him.
“Can we go home now?”
I glared at him. “Can you go home now?”
“He’s the first timer,” Leo whispered.
“Ah, so you are the one who didn’t know about what was going on here?” I asked.
He nodded viciously.
“Quick show of hands. Who saw the newbie with a kid here tonight?”
Three hands shot up.
“See, had you done the right thing, then you might not be here.”
“Keller would have killed me though.” His voice pleading.
“Cowardice doesn’t justify rape.”
His face lowered as he sank back to the ground.
“You are all staying here. You will give my friend your name. You will also tell him where to find your wallets and identification. If you choose not to do so, then he will kill you. Do you all understand me?”
All five voiced an affirmation.
“My suggestion to you is two-fold. First, I’d stay warm. I have no idea when you will be rescued. Two, there is enough evidence to bury each and everyone of you for a millennium. Keller had no problem documenting everything you each did. So, I suggest you confess to everything, tell the authorities everything you know, and pray that the sentence they give you allows you to see the sunlight every so often.”
The men stared speechless at us.
Leo added, “If we find out that you didn’t tell everything or tried to plead not guilty. I will personally find each and everyone of you and remove your heads with a butter knife.”
I left Leo to gather their names. Outside I found another Tahoe, or possibly the same one I rode in. When I opened the back, there was a stain on the carpet that had a crimson tint to it. This was the Tahoe, I rode in yesterday. Elizabeth Wardlow’s body was lying in it twenty-four hours ago.
The keys were in the pocket of the security guard I shot. I went out and started the truck and pulled it close to the door. Leo was coming out of the kitchen. Five driver’s licenses were lined up on the coffee table in the center of the room.
“Should we leave a note for whoever to look in the freezer?” he asked.
“I don’t care. Guess it would help them.”
I left him to decide that. The six children we found were all still in the first room.
“Do any of you know where your clothes are?” I asked.
One boy, about nine, raised his hand.
“Okay, what’s your name?” I asked.
“Bryce,” he said. “Miss Maggie took them to the back.”
“Do you know where?”
He nodded.
“Want to show me?”
His eyes darted around.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to. I’ll find them for you.”
The look of relief flashed over his face. He knew what happened when you were taken off alone.
“Kids, I’m not going to hurt you. Those men that did that, won’t touch you again. My friend and I will get you all someplace safe, okay?” I tried to keep a reassuring tone in my voice. The kids just stared at me. I left to find their clothes.
Bryce was right. The back room had a pile of clothes and underwear. I didn’t really want to sort through it, so I just grabbed them all up. I returned to the children with the mound and dropped it.
The oldest one was a girl who looked to be thirteen. I asked what her name was.
“Lucy,” she said in a small voice.
“Lucy, can you make sure everyone finds something to wear?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then, we are all going for a ride. We will never see this place again.”
The children seemed less than convinced, but I let them get dressed. They
were facing a hard road.
Leo was collecting shells around the room. “I don’t suppose you grabbed your brass when you killed Keller.”
“No, sorry.”
“No worries. We just need to dump these guns soon.”
“The kids are getting dressed, then we need to vacate,” I said.
“What are we going to do with them?”
“I don’t know,” I confessed.
“I have an idea,” he said.
33
The children were all asleep in the back of the Tahoe. Leo drove his truck about thirty miles north while I followed. When he found a place he thought, suitable, the truck bounced off the highway and into the woods. I parked on the shoulder and waited.
Fifteen minutes later, Leo walked out carrying a large bag. When he got in, I put the truck into gear and pulled off to the north. Thirty minutes later, Leo motioned for me to pull over.
The Amish bakery was dark. It was nearly eleven at night. Leo and I got out and walked around the building. Behind it was a small farmhouse. We walked up the steps and knocked loudly on the door.
A few moments later, a tall, large man opened the door. He sported the traditional Amish beard with no mustache, and he was wearing flannel pajamas that had been hand sewn.
“Can I help you?” he asked.
“We hope so,” I said. “Do you have a minute to listen to us? We are in a pretty bad jam.”
He looked at both of us carefully. Then, he opened the door wider. “Come inside,” he offered. “I’m Gideon.”
We obliged as he promptly lighted two kerosene lanterns.
“Sir, we have a group of children in our car that desperately n a place to stay,” I began.
He studied me. “From where did these children come?”
I told Gideon the story. I wanted to include the graphic condition where these children were forced to live. After several minutes, I finished with our raid of the ranch.
“This, Dr. Keller was in charge?” Gideon asked.
“Yes, he was a very powerful man. He may have been selling children to people overseas, too. He controlled a lot of people in Alabama.”
Crimson Blood (Max Sawyer Book 4) Page 15