by Jessie Cox
eBook ISBN: 978-1-62110-153-6
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
About the author
Dedication
Chapter 1
Sergeant Ray Corngrower idled the patrol car with its lights off along the moonlit gravel road that was the county line. Night birds and frogs fell silent at his approach, but resumed their gossip and songs of enticement as soon as the car passed. Easing around a curve he saw a bright red Mustang parked on the shoulder. Gliding to a halt Ray put the car in park and quietly opened the door. Getting out and closing the door until the dome light went out, he walked up to the foggy rear window of the car. Peeking into the back seat from the side window he saw Junior Sikes enjoyably busy with his date.
Ray quietly returned to his car and idled up unnoticed to within a foot of the Mustang’s bumper. Switching his lights on and flicking on the red and blues on the overhead he flipped the switch for the siren. Ray chuckled at the mad scramble he could see through the steamed rear window, going on in the backseat.
Once the activity in the car had stopped, Ray turned off the overheads and siren. He lightly honked as he went around the car and continued his search for other prey.
The night wore on. The police radio was silent and Ray’s thoughts returned to Jan. He had asked the Creator countless times why she was given to him only to be taken so quickly. He could still feel the touch of her caress and could smell the scent of her perfume...
“Stop!” he told himself. “Put it away and concentrate on your job.”
As he came upon the old tree-lined driveway that led to the abandoned house in Banes Meadow he noticed fresh tire tracks that turned into the drive. Knowing the meadow was a favorite place of car thieves to strip parts from the cars they had stolen, Ray blocked the road with the cruiser and, calling in his twenty, gave his location before proceeding down the drive on foot. If it was car thieves he’d return to the cruiser and request backup, but if it was kids making out he would put a scare into them and let them go.
He made no noise as he walked. His eyes and ears were alert in case a lookout had been posted. The night was silent. Too silent, but he caught the faint stink of cigarette on the night air. Circling soundlessly through the brush that had long ago lined a fence row Ray saw a glowing ember in a stand of trees. The faint sound of music came from there as well. Lining himself so his approach was with the tree between him and the person under it, Ray walked quietly to the tree and peeked around it.
Seated on the ground, his back to the tree, a teenager stubbed out his smoke and continued to play the air guitar. Ray could clearly hear the music that boomed from the headphones that covered his ears. Reaching around the tree Ray clamped a hand over the teen’s mouth. The young man jumped in fright, but quickly settled down when Ray removed the headphones and whispered, “Come with me, but make no noise.”
In the glare of the truck headlights Earl was removing the passenger side bucket seat from the 1968 customized Dodge Charger, when he paused for still another glance at the three story derelict house that seemed to stare at him from across the meadow. Was that a shadow moving in the window or just a piece of tattered curtain waving in the breeze? He wasn’t sure that he wanted to know.
“I don’t like this,” he said to Luke who was trying to get past the locking lug nut that held the mag wheel in place.
“Don’t like what?” Luke asked. Then glancing up saw what Earl was looking at.
“What? That old house?” Luke continued. “It ain’t nuthin’. Just some old place that was deserted during the Dustbowl.”
“I don’t know,” Earl replied. “I get an odd feeling that it’s watching us and waiting for something to happen.”
“Then don’t look at it,” Luke said. “If you hurry up with the seats and the radio we’ll be out of here in no time.”
Ray seated his prisoner in the back seat of the cruiser, after patting him down. Getting into the front, he called for backup and turned to the young man.
“What’s your name, bud?” Ray asked.
The teenager took a moment to decide if he was going to talk or not. Then, deciding that it might go easier on him if he did, said, “Tim Halloway.”
Ray wrote the name on a clipboard. “How many people are stripping the car and what are their names,” he asked.
“Just two,” Tim replied. “Luke Barrens and his brother Earl. I tell you, man. I had nuthin’ to do with stealing no car! They offered me twenty bucks to lay low in the woods and yell if I saw anyone comin’.”
“Didn’t that seem a bit off to you?” Ray asked.
“Yeah. I knew they were up to somethin’, but thought they might be having a pot party that they didn’t want interrupted,” Tim replied.
At that moment another patrol car pulled alongside. Rolling down his window, while the passenger, Deputy Murray, in the cruiser did the same, Ray explained about the car thieves.
“How do you want to handle it, Sergeant?” Murray asked.
“I’ll back up, while you two go in first. Let’s do it gangbusters,” Ray replied. “I’ll be right behind you.”
Putting the cruiser in reverse, Ray applied the gas, but the rear tire had sunk in a dustfilled chuckhole and the car didn’t budge. The tire spun throwing up a dust cloud. Cursing under his breath, Ray let off the gas and put it in Drive and the cruiser eased out of the hole.
Earl and Luke heard the revving engine and looked at each other, knowing they were caught.
“Run!” Earl yelled at his brother.
“What about you?” Luke asked.
“It’s my truck. I’m caught! Get out of here,” Earl shouted as he ran to turn off the truck headlights.
Luke ran. He had just made it to the tree line when it seemed that cop hell, with flashing lights and siren, was called into session in the field behind him.
A quick look around showed no place to hide. All the boulders, heavy brush and ditches seen in the daylight had disappeared in the night. That left just one place and Luke ran while bent over hoping the cloud that covered the moon would hide his passage to the old abandoned house.
Luke lost his direction in the darkness and, had not the moon peeked briefly through the cloud, he would have run past the house. Not wasting time looking for a door, he stumbled through the high brush and fallen debris to climb through the long window that was only a few feet above the ground.
“This place is as black as a sack full of assholes,” Luke told himself once he was inside. Reaching in his pocket he took out a plastic disposable cigarette lighter. Shielding the tiny flame so it could not be seen outside the house, he looked around.
“Kitchen,” he muttered. “Looks like I’m about sixty years too late for supper.”
Ray transferred Tim to the other patrol car to join Earl in the backseat.
“Do you want to search for the other one?” Deputy Murray asked.
“I’ll drive up near t
he house and see if I can see him using the spotlight,” Ray replied. “It really doesn’t matter if we get him tonight or not. We know who he is and where he lives. We’ll get him sooner or later. Go ahead and transport the other two and do the reports. You were first on the scene and it’s your bust. Good job, men. We’ll send a wrecker to get the car and the truck in the morning.”
Getting back in his car Ray drove slowly down the drive, searching with the spotlight as he went.
Luke stood back from the window watching the patrol car coming closer. Its spotlight played over the meadow searching for him.
“Yeah. Right! Like I’m going to be standing out in the open waiting for you to find me,” he told the unknown officer behind the wheel.
His attention on the patrol car, he was gradually aware of something crawling up his pant leg. With a shudder, he quickly reached down and knocked it off with his hand.
“What the hell was that?” he asked himself. The word “tarantula” came to mind.
At that moment the spotlight swept along the wall to the right of him.
“Time to hide,” he thought. In the dim illumination given off by the spotlight he had seen an open doorway on the inside kitchen wall. Walking slowly, his hands searching in the darkness, found a door frame. Stepping inside, he lit his lighter again.
“Must be the pantry", he told himself, though his feeble light did not reach the end of what was more like a long hallway. Finding a straight back chair, he sat in the total darkness. Hearing a low mutter of voices and footsteps from above, he sat waiting to be found.
Seeing nothing in the meadow nor any movement in the house, Ray drove back toward the road and found the other patrol car waiting for him. With a wave of thanks he continued his patrol. The other car turned toward the jail and the reports that would take the rest of their shift.
In the house Luke listened as the unintelligible muttering and footsteps grew louder. Knowing that he would be found if he stayed where he was, he decided that if the cops were busy searching the house he might have a better chance of escape outside. As he arose the chair fell back against the wall with a loud thump. The muttering and footsteps stopped. Silently cursing himself for a clumsy fool, Luke peeked into the kitchen and saw that moonlight streamed through the windows, lighting the way for his escape. Crossing the kitchen as quietly as he could, he was just about to step out when it attacked. The first slash felt like someone was ripping the flesh from his upper back with multiple hay hooks. Luke’s screams that filled the meadow went silent when the second slash was delivered. Half falling, half jumping out the window, his boot caught on the window sill, sending him head first into the rocks beneath the bushes below.
Ray turned in his patrol car at the end of the shift, then went to the locker room and changed from his uniform into jeans and sport shirt. Grandfather Sun was warm on his skin as he walked across the parking lot to the ancient Chevy pickup he drove. As he coaxed the wheezing engine to life, Inspector Ted Watts pulled into the parking space beside him.
“How was your shift?” Ted asked. “Anything exciting happen?”
“Other than interrupting Junior Sikes’ romantic life and a GTA that was being stripped in Banes Meadow, it was pretty slow,” Ray said.
“That Sikes kid thinks he’s Don Juan,” Ted laughed. “Did you get the perps on the GTA?”
“It’s Deputy Murray and his partner’s bust. Can’t think of the partner’s name...” Ray replied.
“I think his name is Cox. Jess Cox, if I remember right,” Ted said.
“Yeah, I think you are right. Kinda old, bald and doesn’t say much. Anyway. They got Tim Halloway and Earl Barrens, but Luke Barrens got away. I figure he won’t be difficult to find,” Ray said.
“I’ll send a car to his house to see if he made it home, and may go out to Banes Meadow and look around, myself,” Ted replied.
“Let me know if you find him,” Ray said. “I’m stopping by Maggie’s for breakfast, but will be at home after that.”
Chapter 2
Amos Badwater was thirty minutes early for his first day on the job as a County Parks Worker. He knew that had it not been for the special hiring program that gave local senior Indians first priority for county jobs, he would never have gotten hired.
He also knew that he was too old and lacked strength for hard physical labor, but he was willing to try. After all, he had a “family” to help support. He had inherited this family, which consisted of Timmy Tomes, his little sister Anna, and his mother Marlene, when he had decided to teach the boy in the ways of manhood.
His new supervisor had looked at Amos, silently sighed and asked if he could operate a riding lawnmower. Amos had never been on one, but as a former truck driver, he assured the supervisor that he could.
The Lead man, Roger Tibbs, led Amos to the large shed that housed the equipment. Pointing out a decrepit mower, he said, “Though it looks like hell, this is one of our best machines. It can be cantankerous, but once you know it, it will run circles around these newer ones and on less gas, too.”
He showed Amos how to check the oil, the battery, where to grease the belt pulley, and how to fill the fuel tank. Lastly, he showed Amos the electrical kill switch hidden beneath the steering column.
“If that switch position is the least bit off, the battery will turn the engine over, but it won’t start. You also have to turn the switch completely off at lunch or the battery will be dead when you return,” he told Amos.
“Several have forgotten that and run the battery dead.”
Amos nodded his understanding then did the pre-operating inspection under Tibbs’ watchful eye. Getting on the mower, Amos flipped the switch and turned the key. The machine roared to life in an unmuffled vibrating chorus from hell. Tibbs tapped Amos on the shoulder and beckoned him out the door. Once outside, Tibbs indicated that Amos should follow him. Leading Amos to the park area, he had Amos kill the engine so he could talk without having to yell.
“There are three ball fields, a twelve acre picnic area, a swimming pool that has to be mowed around and two tennis courts. You will also pick up any trash and dispose of it,” Tibbs said. “In the ball fields the grass is to be one and a half inches high, all the rest is to be two inches high. Got that?”
“Got it,” Amos answered. Then, starting up the mower, he went to work.
Chapter 3
Inspector Ted Watts followed the tow truck down the dusty dirt road that led to the meadow. It was another warm day, and the shady spots on the road from the trees didn’t offer much relief from the choking dust kicked up by the truck in front of him. Ted dropped back a half mile in hopes of avoiding most of it, while still being able to see where the truck turned into the drive. Ted rolled up the window and turned on the vent in the unmarked police car, not that it seemed to do much good, as he could still smell the dust from the road. Switching from vent to air conditioner, the filtered air was cool and clean.
The dust cloud vanished and the tow truck was nowhere in sight. Knowing he had missed the driveway Ted reversed, looking left and right until he saw it. Turning in he bounced down the uneven road until he was beside the tow truck parked behind the Charger.
“I thought there was two vehicles,” the truck driver said as Ted got out of the car.
“There was supposed to be, according to the report,” Ted answered. “A ‘68 Charger and a ‘72 Ford half ton pickup.”
The driver, in greasy overalls and wearing a stained ball cap, shifted his chew and spit a long stream into the grass.
“Well,” he said. “All I see besides this Dodge is those buzzards fighting over something in the middle of the field. Probably a deer that was shot by a poacher.”
A chill slithered down Ted’s spine. Ray had mentioned nothing about seeing a deer carcass. Maybe it wasn’t there when he searched, or maybe he had forgotten to mention it.
“I’d better check that out,” Ted told the driver. “Start hooking up the car. I’ll be right back.”
&nb
sp; Getting back into the car Ted drove along the drive, but stopped well away from whatever the dead thing was, not chancing to mess up any tracks.
Getting out of the car to proceed on foot, he could see it wasn’t a deer. Slowly he realized what he was looking at. Drawing his weapon he fired two shots into the air to drive away the buzzards. Then hurried to the body, ignoring the shouted questions from the truck driver down the field. Holstering his weapon, Ted removed the portable radio from his belt.
“Dispatch, Car Two,” he called.
“Dispatch. Go Car Two,” came the reply.
“Dispatch. Car Two requests a State Crime Scene Investigation Team and a Coroner’s Unit to be dispatched to the old Banes place on County Road 1066. Also please contact Sergeant Corngrower and have him meet me here,” Ted said.
“Ten four,” responded Dispatch.
Ted went to the car and returned with a disposable camera. Though his stomach was queasy at the buzzing of flies and what the buzzards had done to the body, he knew that there was a possibility the pictures he took might show something that the pictures by the CSI Team missed. He noticed a couple of buzzards in one of the trees by the fencerow patiently waiting to resume their meal. Then from behind him…