MICHAEL LISTER'S FIRST THREE SERIES NOVELS: POWER IN THE BLOOD, THE BIG GOODBYE, THUNDER BEACH

by Michael Lister

  “Is that why you stayed around, to look out for him?” I asked, still wondering what her real motivation was. I wanted to believe that it was pure love, but I found it difficult to believe.

  “I thought if I was here, he wouldn’t feel so alone, and that might help him make it.”

  “And it has.”

  “It has helped. But about a month ago, Tony started acting real sure of himself, like he didn’t need me anymore. He said that the most powerful man at the institution was looking out for him and that his last year would be cake. He was so cocky I couldn’t stand it. I hate it when he gets like that,” she said shaking her head.

  “Did he say who the man was?” I asked.

  “No, he never did. I would go on the weekends, and he would have all kinds of money to spend on me at the canteen. He would also give me little presents: a nice watch, earrings, a bracelet. He also began to deposit money in my account at the bank. Large deposits, especially considering I was his only source of funds and I hadn’t been able to give him any in a long time.”

  “Did he ever say where it came from?” I asked.

  “No, he didn’t. He used to say that the skipper took care of his mates. And,” she started to cry, “that everything he was doing he was doing for me. That he knew the sacrifices I had made to be near him and he appreciated it.”

  She continued to cry. The right side of her face twitched along her jawline and her bottom lip quivered. I looked around for what I knew Dick would have close by. I found it on a small table at the left side of his desk. I held out a Kleenex box. She withdrew two of them and neatly folded each one. With the first, she dabbed the corners of it in the corners of her eyes. With the second one, she blew her nose. She seemed so frail. I wanted to hug her and tell her that it was going to be all right. I knew better.

  “He appreciated it,” she said with disgust, “like I worked for him or something. Anyway, I was so thrilled that he was doing okay on the inside that I didn’t really think about what he was really saying. Then, last Saturday when I was visiting him, he said that he had something very special planned for us this week and that he would call me and not to be scared. It would be all right.”

  “What did you think he meant?” I asked.

  “I had no idea, but, to be honest, I was excited. Anyway, I got a call from him on Tuesday night saying for me to come to the institution. He said he worked it out for us to be alone. I was horrified, but I went. I was kind of excited too, you know? When I got there, the officer at the control room said that Captain Skipper was expecting me and to come right in. They didn’t even have me sign in or take my driver’s license or anything.”

  I sat in silent shock, not knowing what to say.

  “When I got into the sally port, a big man in a white shirt met me and escorted me to the chapel. He wasn’t wearing a name tag. I looked.”

  “The chapel?” I asked with surprise.

  “Yes. No one was there. It was very dark. The officer told me to go into the sanctuary and wait for Tony. When I got in there, Tony was waiting for me.”

  She began to tremble, and her twitch grew worse as she continued her story through her tears.

  “He took me from behind, like he was attacking me. He grabbed me and slung me to the ground. At first I didn’t know who it was, but then he started talking, and I knew it was him. He was like an animal pawing at me. I tried to turn around, but he wouldn’t let me. He had my jeans off before I knew it.” She began to cry so hard that she was gasping for breath. “Chaplain, he was whispering the most horrible things in my ear. Words he never used before and saying things he would do to me that he had never done before.”

  In every counseling session that I had ever conducted I tried to sit quietly and nod my head as I listened intently. This one had been no different until now. I felt as if I were sitting there with my chin on the floor.

  “Why don’t you rest for a minute before going on,” I said as I gave her the entire tissue box this time.

  “I,” she sobbed, “must,” she sniffled deeply, “go on. It felt like he put his fist . . . Oh God, this is so hard,” she said.

  “Don’t rush it. It’s okay,” I said.

  “It felt like he put his whole fist inside me. He was completely out of control. He grunted and cursed and called me the most awful names. It wasn’t like Tony at all. Then, he . . .” she started crying even harder, “ . . . sodomized me,” she yelled at last and continued to cry uncontrollably.

  “I am so sorry,” I said. And then we sat in silence for a long time. About five minutes after she stopped crying she spoke again.

  “Chaplain, I’m no saint. Tony and I have had sex in every way conceivable, but . . .”

  “But, with your consent,” I said.

  “He raped me,” she said matter of factly, all her earlier emotion gone.

  “There are doubtless many saints who have had sexual intercourse in every conceivable way, so don’t exclude yourself quite so quickly. However, no one should have anything forced on them. I am very sorry.”

  “He hurt me, not too bad physically, but real bad emotionally. But the worst thing of all was before he was through, the big officer in the white shirt and two other officers in brown shirts came in. They pulled him off of me and cuffed him. I have never been so scared or humiliated in all my life. It was all like a horrible nightmare. One of the officers jerked me up, told me to get dressed, and then led me to the gate. I heard the other officers saying that Tony would get time in the box for this and that he should be taken for a preconfinement physical.

  “I was so disoriented I don’t remember anything else except being in my car about a mile from my house when I saw the bright lights of a truck in my rearview mirror. I sped up, and the truck behind me did, too. When I reached the trailer park, I pulled in quickly, and so did the truck. I parked in front of my trailer, jumped out, and ran toward the door. The truck pulled in behind me, and I heard the truck door open. When I turned around, I saw the big officer in the white shirt running towards me. I dropped my keys, but thankfully I had left the door unlocked. People do that in Pottersville.

  “I ran in and locked the door just before he reached it. He tried it. It was locked. Then it hit me—my keys—they were out there on the ground. I put the dead bolt on and the chain. He came back and unlocked the knob, but couldn’t open the door because of the dead bolt. He kicked the door. I could hear him cursing. I ran into the kitchen and called nine-one-one. When I went back, he was gone. When the deputy arrived, I told him that it was a false alarm, but he could tell that I’d been beaten up a little. I think I looked worse than I felt. Anyway, I convinced him that I was okay, and he left. I’ve lived in fear ever since. This is the first time I’ve come out of the house since then.”

  “Do you know the name of the officer, the big one in the white shirt?” I asked.

  “No. I assumed it was Skipper, but I don’t know. God, he’s a psychopath. You should have heard him laughing at me just before they pulled Tony off me. I wonder how long they were there in the dark watching us.”

  “Have you ever seen him before?” I asked.

  “No, never. I take it that he is either a captain or a lieutenant because of the color of his shirt, but I couldn’t see his collar.”

  “What time did all this take place?” I asked.

  “I’m not sure,” she said.

  “It’s very important. Was it before or after eleven?”

  “Oh, after. It was way after eleven. Why?”

  “The shift changes at eleven. So does the shift OIC.”

  “While you were at the institution, how many different officers did you see?” I asked.

  “There was only one in the control room and then the three in the chapel.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked.

  “Yes. It was eerily quiet that night.”

  “I wonder how many officers saw you.” I said, mainly to myself.

  “Four,” she said confidently as if I had asked what
two plus two equaled.

  “More than four. Certainly the officer in Tower One saw you, even though you didn’t see him or her.”

  “Oh, I see what you mean. Is it real important?”

  “It would give me an idea of how many are involved and how high this goes.”

  “What are you going to do?” she asked.

  “I’m going to look into it,” I said.

  “What should I do?” she asked like a lost little girl.

  “You should stay home as much as possible. I’ll ask the sheriff to assign someone to watch you for a while. As soon as I know something, I’ll be in touch.”

  “Can you get the sheriff to assign a deputy to me?” she asked, sounding impressed.

  “I think so,” I said confidently.

  “You are something else, Chaplain,” she said with a puzzled expression on her face.

  “No, I’m not,” I said. “I’m just related to him.”

  “Oh, I see. Chaplain,” she said, turning deathly serious, “will you please check on Tony for me? I need to know he’s all right.”

  “I will.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I haven’t done anything yet,” I said.

  “But you will,” she said. “I know it.”

  Chapter 18

  “What exactly are we doing here?” Anna asked.

  We were sitting at the large conference table in the medical break room designed more for meetings than breaks. In fact, it was a conference room with a Coke machine in the back of the medical building. The corridor leading to it led past the steel doors of the suicide cells on one side and the glass walls of the infirmary on the other. I was drinking a can of “pure Florida orange juice,” she a Diet Pepsi, both produced by the vending machine.

  “We’re taking a break,” I said. She looked confused. “You know, a break. We’re state employees; we takes lots of them.”

  “Oh, we do?” she asked, raising her left eyebrow to a sharp point.

  I called her shortly after returning from my meeting with Molly Thomas. Just prior to calling Anna, I called Tom Daniels and asked him to quietly get the FDLE technicians to examine the chapel floor for trace evidence that might verify Molly’s story. I had no reason to doubt her, but in dealing with inmates and their families I had learned to verify everything. Besides it was an incredible story. I also called Dad and told him about the case and asked him to look out for Molly.

  “Okay, so we never do,” I said, “but today we are turning over a new leaf.”

  She sipped some more of her Diet Pepsi. Where she’d found a straw, I had no idea.

  “You know,” I continued, “I never once saw Susan drink out of a straw. She said it causes wrinkles around the mouth.”

  “What?” she asked, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. Anna had never liked Susan, which was difficult while we were married, but wonderful now.

  I shrugged. “She was always obsessing about something.”

  Anna sucked on the straw even harder; her cheeks drew and gulping noises surfaced from the bottom of the can. Like everything she did, this, too, had the unique blend of sensuality and innocence. I’m not saying she didn’t know she was sexy—she was far too confident in it. But just as those raised in wealth are unaware of their privilege, Anna never seemed conscious of her beauty.

  “What we’re really doing here,” I whispered, “is looking around for clues.”

  Her eyes widened. “Clues? Like real detectives? Am I playing Watson to your Holmes?”

  “Being my partner would make you either Curly or Moe, not Watson.”

  “I think I’ll be Moe and let Merrill be Curly.”

  “Fine by me,” I said. I then grabbed her nose between my first two fingers and brought my other hand down pretending to hit it and said, “Hey, Moe.”

  She smiled that smile. For just a moment, time paused. And the Stooges were the furthermost thing from my mind.

  “Actually,” she said, “I should be Nancy Drew or your Girl Friday, you sexist pig,” she said with a different smile.

  “You know, you’re right. I almost forgot that you are a woman. I’ll be James Bond, and you can be— “

  “I will not be a Bond bitch,” she said, cutting me off.

  “I think the term is Bond babe,” I said through a laugh.

  “Whatever.”

  I sat there preparing to talk to her about the letters. It was more difficult than I would have thought, primarily because of what I thought her reaction was going to be.

  “I need to talk with you,” I said finally.

  “We are talking.”

  “We need to have a serious talk. I want you to really listen to what I’m going to say. I’m not joking.”

  “Okay, what is it?” she said, tired of the buildup.

  “I’ve received a couple of letters threatening someone that I love. I think they’re about you.”

  “What did they say?”

  I told her.

  “It’s not necessarily about me.”

  “No, not necessarily, but I think it’s probably about you. I love you more than anyone within miles of this place, and the letters are coming from within the institution.”

  “You’re probably right,” she said soberly. “What do you want me to do?”

  “I want you to listen to me. If anything happened to you . . .” The thought just lingered in the air. I regretted saying it.

  “Well, then, you’ll just have to stop anything from happening to me.”

  “I don’t trust me to do that.”

  “I do,” she said, her voice full of certainty. “This is not Atlanta. I’m not convinced that was your fault anyway, but even if it was, it’s time to move on. You’re very good at what you do—at all the different things that you do. I trust you to take care of me, to solve this case, and to continue to do the work of God, too.”

  “And on the weekends, I could bring about world peace,” I said.

  “It is a lot, but you can do it. I’m serious.”

  I could tell that she was. “Thank you,” I said. “I want to talk to you more about the whole Stone Cold Killer thing. Not now, but soon. I know you need to. For now, I want you to be very careful. Play it safe, okay? Don’t go anywhere or do anything alone inside here, okay?”

  “Okay. It’s going to be all right. I’m going to be fine. You’re going to figure all of this out. Once again, save the day.”

  We drank a little more. I knew that we needed to get on with our search, but I was content just to be in her company. She was refreshing. If being happy is being unable to think of another place you’d rather be than where you are, then I was happy.

  “I need to look in some of the rooms down here, and I need someone to cause a distraction, and, honey, you are distracting,” I said.

  “You asked me down here just to be a distraction? I’m insulted. I am more than just another pretty face.”

  “Without question. You’re a versatile woman who can do anything. And the anything that this situation calls for is distraction. Another time and in another place, you can use your other assets.”

  “As long as you don’t forget that I am woman, phenomenally,” she said, alluding to Maya Angelou’s poem, which I wouldn’t have known had it not been for her.

  “Phenomenal woman, that’s you,” I said completing the line of the poem. “Now, what I need is for you to talk to the officer in the infirmary. And be as distracting as you can.”

  She was.

  I decided to look in the caustic storage closets first since this was where the cleaning chemicals were stored. They were both locked. I reached in my back pocket and whipped out my Visa card, slid it down the side of the doorjamb, and the door opened—too easily. Someone had done this before—many times.

  I glanced at my Visa before I put it back. It had a tear in it that broke the magnetic strip. I smiled. It was maxed out anyway.

  The first closet had a single metal shelf that looked like it should have been in someo
ne’s garage. It was filled with boxes of garbage bags, paper towels, toilet paper, and rubber gloves. The very bottom shelf was filled with white plastic bottles of PRIDE chemicals: wax, stripper, floor cleaner, and glass cleaner. There were also two cans of the cleaning spray that kills HIV and hepatitis on contact surfaces like toilet seats.

  I got down on my hands and knees to take a closer look. I resisted the urge to touch them, which made it tough to see well. I moved to the side of the shelf, and then I saw it. On the back side there was a bottle of cleaner leaking, the liquid standing around the base of the bottle, the shelf, and the floor. I had not done a lot of detecting lately, so I wasn’t sure, but I thought this looked a lot like a clue.

  Amazingly enough, I was right. It was another reason I had faith—anything’s possible. I was so thrilled about being right and finding an actual physical clue that I decided not to check the other closet.

  Daniels would do it with crime scene investigators who were equipped to process it.

  I walked back up towards the front. In the long corridor that led up to the infirmary, the elderly inmate orderly named Jones was mopping the floor. He was so quiet and his moves so understated that I probably wouldn’t have noticed him except that he was whistling. It was a very soft, airy whistle. I wasn’t sure, but the tune sounded like “As Time Goes By.” When I arrived at the infirmary control room, Anna was still beguiling the young officer, Ron Straub. He never had a chance.

  “How you doing?” I asked him when I walked in.

  “Fine. How are you, Chaplain?” he said, not bothering to mask his irritation at the intrusion—the second one in as many days.

  “Do you have an inmate in the infirmary named Anthony Thomas?”

  He looked away from me very quickly, but it was in the direction of the infirmary, so I couldn’t tell if he was just looking to see if Thomas was in the infirmary or if he was startled by the question.

  “Jones,” he yelled to the orderly, “wasn’t Thomas put in confinement Tuesday morning?”

  Through the windows of the control room, I could see the inmate slowly walking up the hallway toward us.

  “Yes, sir,” he said when he reached the door. And then he walked back.