Close To Home_A Sam Prichard Mystery

by David Archer

  “On the other side of the building is Ames Street, and it goes down just a short way before it turns right and becomes Shirley. The house we are after is at the end of Shirley, on the left. You’ll see the big bread truck sitting right in its driveway, that’s the place. Now, I’m going to go ahead by half a minute, and I’ll be the one to knock on the door. Samara probably knows who I am, so things are going to get lively in a hurry. Wait at the corner until you see me get to the door, then give me thirty seconds before you hit the place. I want to get this guy, but getting his daughter back safe is most important. Are we ready?”

  The officers agreed that they were and got back into their cars. Sam started up the Corvette and pulled around the back of the building, then turned on to the street with all three cars on his tail. When he made the turn at the corner, they hung back just enough to keep them from being visible from the house they were targeting, while Sam drove on up and put the Corvette right behind the truck.

  He got out of the car and walked up to the front door of the house. He knocked, and the door was opened by a woman who looked like she was frightened. Sam held up his ID.

  “Ma’am, my name is Sam Prichard. I’m a private investigator, and I’m looking for the man who was driving this truck. Is he around?”

  The woman flicked her eyes twice to the right, and licked her lips. “Um, no, he went, um, somewhere.”

  Sam pushed his jacket aside and put his hand on the grip of his Glock. “Oh,” he said, “would you have any idea when he might be back?”

  The woman looked at his hand on the gun, then turned her eyes back up to meet his. “No, I don’t know if he’s coming back or not. He might—he might not come back.”

  She flicked her eyes to the right again, then suddenly jumped backward and threw the door open. Sam snatched out his gun and stepped inside just in time to see Samara raise his own pistol. For a split second, Sam could see down the barrel, but then instincts took over and he fired once. His shot missed, but Samara jerked back and then took off running toward the back of the house.

  Tires were squealing outside as the three squad cars roared up to the house. The officers came out of their cars with their guns drawn, and Sam shouted out the door that Samara was headed out the back. Three of the officers sprinted around the house, and Sam turned to the woman who had opened the door.

  “He had his daughter with him,” Sam said. “Is she here?”

  “Oh, God, yes,” the woman said. “Oh, God, you’ve got to get us out of here. He’s crazy, he’s crazy, he’ll kill us all.”

  She pointed to a doorway, and Sam ran through it, still holding his gun at the ready. Melinda Davis was sitting in a chair beside the bed, her arms wrapped around her belly and tears flowing down her face. When she saw Sam, her mouth flew open.

  “Mr. Prichard?”

  Sam hurried over as quick as he could and knelt down in front of her. “Melinda, are you okay? Are you hurt?”

  She shook her head, sniffling. “No, I’m all right,” she said. “Tom, my husband, he…”

  “I found him,” Sam said. “He’d been drugged, but he’s going to be all right. The police are trying to catch your father, now, and then I’ll take you to him.”

  She collapsed against him, sobbing. Sam kept an arm around her shoulders as she wept.

  16

  Wilson came into the house a few moments later, a scowl on his face. “We didn’t catch him,” he said to Sam. “He got into an old car that was out back and took off through somebody’s yard. By the time we could get back to our own cars, he was long gone. I called it in, so there is a BOLO out on him. The car was a big four-door Chevy, a brown one from the late eighties.”

  Sam pointed at Melinda. “We did something good, though. I’m going to take Mrs. Davis to the hospital to be checked out, and reunite her with her husband. He was actually the man I found earlier, and it turns out he’s going to be okay.”

  Wilson nodded. If he caught the fact that Sam hadn’t told him everything earlier, he didn’t comment on it. “Okay. The other lady here, Mrs. McGill, she says Samara has done business with her husband in the past, but they got into a fight. Her husband left with him earlier today, and she hasn’t heard from him since then. When Samara got here a little while ago, he claimed the husband told him he could hide here for a while, but Mrs. McGill wasn’t happy about it. That’s why she was trying to let you know he was here.”

  “She did a good job,” Sam said. “If it hadn’t been for her, I might’ve walked right into a bullet. I just wish I hadn’t missed.”

  Sam helped Melinda to her feet, and they walked out of the bedroom together. Mrs. McGill was crying as she talked to another of the officers, but she ran to Sam as soon as she saw him.

  “Thank you,” she said. “Thank you so much. I just know he was going to kill me, he as much as said so. He said he hates leaving witnesses behind, so I know he was going to kill me.”

  “I’m the one who should thank you,” Sam said. “You let me know he was there, and I really appreciate it. I don’t know how things would have gone down if it hadn’t been for that.”

  He walked Melinda out to the Corvette and opened the passenger door for her, then helped her sit down in the low seat. He made sure she was buckled in, then walked around and got behind the wheel. The young woman was still crying as he made a U-turn and headed toward the hospital.

  Sam looked at the clock on his stereo and saw that it was after five, so he called Indie. “Honey,” he said, “we found him, but he got away. I did manage to get Melinda back, though, and I’m taking her to the hospital now. She seems to be all right physically, but I figure they probably will keep her overnight for observation.”

  “Sam, that’s wonderful,” Indie said. “I’m so glad.”

  “Yeah, me too,” Sam replied. “The thing is, I need to get hold of Will Burton, and he won’t be in his office this late. Think you can track down his cell number for me?”

  Indie giggled. “Give me three minutes,” she said. “By the way, are you going to be home anytime soon?”

  “I hope so,” Sam said. “Why?”

  “My mom just called. They want to bring dinner home, so they are picking up something from Boston Market. They should be here in about an hour, if you want some dinner tonight.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Sam said with a chuckle.

  Indie was quiet for about a minute, then came back on the line and gave Sam the phone number. He told her he loved her and ended the call, then dialed again.

  “Hello,” Burton said.

  “Will, it’s Sam Prichard. Hate to bother you outside of office hours, but I found Melinda Davis, Samara’s daughter. I’m taking her to the hospital now, and I understand you’ve already got officers watching over her husband. I think Mrs. Davis is probably going to be at risk, so…”

  “Wait a minute, Sam,” Burton said. “The only one I’ve got officers watching is the Pilsner guy. Who’s the other one you’re talking about?”

  A chill went down Sam’s spine. “Tom Davis, he’s the guy I found out at Washington Park. He’s Melinda Davis’s husband. Samara apparently drugged him and left him for dead at the park.”

  “First I’ve heard about it, Sam. I’m going to find out what’s going on, right now.”

  The phone went dead, and Sam felt Melinda staring at him. He looked over at her and saw the terrified question in her eyes.

  “I’m not sure what’s going on,” Sam said, “but earlier today I was told that the police were standing guard over your husband. That should have been ordered by the DEA, but I just talked to him and he doesn’t know anything about it. He’s checking into it now and should call me back in just a minute.”

  “But—you said he’s going to be okay, right?”

  “That’s what I was told, yes. Right now, I’m just trying to figure out who else might have wanted the police to watch over him, and whether that’s a good thing or not. I’ve been told that one of our police detectives seems to be
pretty close to your father; if he got wind of your husband being in the hospital, he could have set this up to try to keep Tom from being able to talk to anybody about what happened.”

  Melinda started to cry again, so Sam concentrated on the street. He was just turning into the hospital parking lot when his phone rang again.

  “Prichard,” he said.

  “Sam, it’s Will Burton. The police guard on Tom Davis was ordered by the chief of detectives, Barnhart. I just spoke to one of the officers on duty there, and all he knows is that they were told not to let anyone near the guy. They are scheduled to be relieved at six, but they don’t know who’s coming to relieve them. I just ordered them to stay on duty, and I’ve called in a couple of deputy sheriffs, as well. I tried calling Barnhart, but there’s no answer on his cell.”

  “I’m starting to wonder about Barnhart,” Sam said. “He sure seems to have Rivers’ back a lot, that’s the only reason I can think of for him to want Tom Davis sequestered. If Rivers really is tied up with Samara, he’s probably going to do everything he can to protect the man. Can you imagine how Samara would sing if he got caught? Giving up a dirty cop might get him something, maybe a shot at parole or something, someday. Rivers isn’t going to want to take the chance that might happen, so he’s going to do everything he can to keep the man from being arrested.”

  “As much as I hate to admit it, you’re making sense. We’ll have to walk carefully on this one, Sam.”

  “No kidding,” Sam said. “I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about this whole case that’s just off, not adding up. I’ve got a strong feeling that bringing Samara to justice is only going to be the tip of the iceberg.”

  “You may well be right. For now, just keep your eye on Mrs. Davis. She’s still the strongest witness we have against her father, so I don’t want anything to happen to her. Do me a favor and stay with her until the deputies get there. Whoever was supposed to relieve those officers can just go back home; I want people watching over them that I absolutely trust, and right now that doesn’t include the DPD.”

  “I will,” Sam said. “We are at the hospital now, so I’m going to take her in.”

  The call ended and Sam parked the car near the emergency entrance. He got out and looked around, then walked around the car and opened the door for Melinda. He gave her a hand to hold onto as she got out, then kept watching around them as he walked her into the ER.

  It only took a minute for the nurse at the front desk to get the gist of what Sam was saying, and then she called an orderly to take Melinda back to an examination room. Sam insisted on going along, and waited with her until a nurse came in and asked her to change into a hospital gown.

  “I’ll wait just outside,” Sam said and stepped past the curtain. The nurse tugged it to make sure it was fully closed, and then Sam could hear her helping Melinda get changed. A few minutes later, the nurse stuck her head out and told Sam he could come back inside.

  Melinda was up on the bed and covered with a sheet. The nurse took her vital signs and told them to wait a few more minutes and the doctor would be in.

  “What about Tom?” Melinda asked.

  “I’ll make sure you get to see him shortly,” Sam said. “There are deputy sheriffs on the way to take over watching him, and I don’t want to take you near him until they are in place. I know you heard me talking to the DA; there’s some evidence that your father is connected to one of the detectives, and it looks like he might’ve been the one to arrange the police guard on your husband. It may turn out to be very lucky that we found you when we did, because that’s the only reason we know there’s something fishy about that.”

  Melinda shook her head, and Sam saw tears starting to trickle down her cheeks again. “He’s a monster,” she said. “My father, he’s a monster. He’s never going to stop, and I’m going to spend the rest of my life waiting for him to show up again.”

  “No you won’t,” Sam said. “Just with your testimony, we can put him away for life. If we can prove he killed the FBI agent, then he’s definitely never coming back. Please trust me, the day isn’t far off when you’ll be free of him forever.”

  She sniffled. “If only I hadn’t come back to Denver,” she said.

  The nurse and a doctor came in just then, and Sam stepped out again while Melinda was examined. Sam heard the doctor explaining to her that his biggest concern was stress, which could cause problems for the baby or even send her into early labor. Because she was nearing the end of her term, he didn’t want to give her anything very strong, and Melinda said she didn’t want any kind of drugs in any case. When the doctor said he would like to keep her overnight for observation, she asked about being placed with Tom.

  “Your husband is here?” the doctor asked. She gave him his name and he left the room, telling Sam he could step back inside.

  The doctor came back a moment later with a deputy sheriff. “Well,” he said, “it seems you were correct that your husband is under guard. This is Deputy Sheriff Jenkins, who says he’s in charge of making sure your husband is safe. I’ve got to have his permission to put you in the same room.”

  Jenkins stood quietly while the doctor was talking, then walked over to Sam and held out a hand. “Sam Prichard, right? You probably don’t remember me, but I was with the PD back when you started.”

  Sam looked into his face for a moment, then smiled. “Darrell Jenkins,” Sam said. “I do remember, actually. You taught a class on investigative procedure, and it was one of the best I ever heard.”

  They shook hands, and Jenkins grinned. “Nice to know somebody remembers it,” he said. “Nowadays, everybody wants to talk about psychology and profiling, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with good old police work.”

  “I agree,” Sam said. “Will Burton called you in?”

  “Yep. He told me to look for you here.” He turned his eyes to Melinda. “This is Mrs. Davis?”

  “Yes,” Sam replied. “She’s a very important witness.”

  “So Will tells me.” He turned to the doctor. “It’s okay,” he said. “It’ll make it easier to watch over both of them if they are in the same room.”

  The doctor nodded and left the room. Jenkins turned back to Sam and motioned for him to step outside the curtain with him. When they were out of Melinda’s earshot, he looked at Sam and said, “I’m not a hundred percent certain what’s going on here, but Will says there may be something fishy with the city cops who were watching over her husband. I just came from upstairs and relieved them, but three more officers showed up and wanted to know why we were even there. I told them the DA had turned it over to the Sheriff’s office, but they were pretty pissed. Any idea what this is all about?”

  “There is evidence that Detective Carl Rivers might be involved with the criminal element, namely Mrs. Davis’s father. Ten years ago, she witnessed him murdering and dismembering her mother, and then not long after that she saw him kill her little sister. You heard about Karen Parks?”

  Jenkins snorted. “Yeah, I heard. No way in hell I believe she murdered somebody.”

  “Well, Daniel Samara is Melinda Davis’s father, and he’s my number one suspect for the killing Karen was arrested over. She was at that location looking for him when it happened, and she got roughed up and hustled by some people when she got there. Looks to me like one of them stole her gun and gave it to Samara, and he used it to kill a man he was jealous of. What he may not have known was that the victim was an undercover FBI agent.”

  Jenkins let out a low whistle. “This guy is real bad news, then. You think there’s a dirty detective involved?”

  “It’s definitely looking that way. For some reason, even though he shouldn’t have had any connection to Mr. Davis at all, Captain Barnhart ordered police protection on the man. If he’s working with Rivers, then it’s quite possible the relief officers are also involved. Until just a little while ago, Samara had Melinda and was planning to keep her until her baby was born, then probably kill
her. If we hadn’t gotten her back safely, I suspect her husband might have had a sudden and fatal relapse sometime tonight.”

  “Well, not on my watch, he won’t.” He took a card out of his pocket and handed it to Sam. “It’s got my cell number on it,” he said. “Feel free to give me a call, anytime.”

  Sam thanked him and gave him his own card, then they stepped back into the examination room. Sam introduced Melinda to Jenkins, and told her that he would check on her the following day. He left while they were preparing to take Melinda up to Tom’s room.

  As soon as he got back into his car and started toward home, Sam called Snake. “I found Samara,” he said, “and I got his daughter back safely, but he got away. Last seen driving a brown, four-door Chevy, something old. The reward still stands, if you guys can find him.”

  “I’m working on it,” Snake said. “Good that you got the woman back, though. She okay?”

  “Shook up,” Sam said. “Nothing wrong with her physically, but the doctor is worried about stress causing her to go into labor. I got her in the hospital, and they’re putting her in the same room with her husband. Sheriff’s office is standing guard duty over both of them, so hopefully they’ll be safe.”

  “Sheriff’s office? I figured the city PD would be responsible for that kind of duty.”

  “Yeah, and normally they would be,” Sam said. “Come to think of it, maybe you can help me out on something else. You know anything about Samara and Detective Rivers, any kind of collusion or cooperation between them?”

  “Rivers? I know that punk, he works gang division. What makes you think they might be involved?”

  “It seems there are some patrolmen who think so. There’s an Officer Wilson who says they’ve been seen together several times, and that it always seems like they get kept out of LoDo whenever it happens.”

  “Officer Wilson? You mean Pete Wilson?” Snake asked.

  Sam’s eyebrows pulled together. “Yeah. You know him?”