by Dan Ames
Ray looked at the actor's face.
"Jesus Christ," he said.
The poor bastard had been shot at least twice and beaten to a bloody pulp. Considering the size of the monster now climbing into Lenzen's cruiser, Ray was surprised the actor didn't look any worse.
Ray put his finger on the man's throat. There was a pulse. It was faint, but consistent.
Another innocent person hurt, thanks to the maniac Ferkovich, Ray thought. He knew he should be equally angry with Hank Campbell but this kind of thing had happened before. Shows like Nation’s Most Wanted had helped solve a lot of cases but there was always the risk of misguided vigilantism.
The sound of a vehicle approaching made its way to Mitchell and he turned toward the road.
The Channel 6 news van pulled to a stop behind Lenzen's cruiser. Nancy Bishop and a cameraman jumped out and headed straight for him.
"Stop right there!" Ray shouted.
"Did you get Ferkovich?" Bishop shouted at him.
"It's him! I got him!" Hank shouted to the reporter.
"Bullshit, Hank, you got the actor who played him on the show. Now shut up, you've done enough damage for one night," said Lenzen. "The only person you should talk to now is a lawyer."
"Is that right, Mitchell? Is it the wrong guy?" Bishop yelled.
"No comment."
"Is it the actor who played Ferkovich on Nation’s Most Wanted? What a great story!" Bishop continued.
"If your van blocks that ambulance, I'm locking both of you up, with him," Ray said, gesturing toward Hank Campbell.
The ambulance arrived, and paramedics quickly attended to Mike Sharpe.
Mitchell listened as they questioned him but the man was virtually incoherent.
A voice boomed out behind him.
"Mitchell! What in the hell is going on here?" demanded Lieutenant Benjamin Soergel.
"Mistaken identity,” Ray said.
“That’s just great,” Soergel responded.
Ray ignored him and walked to his car. "You know, I'd be happy to stand around with you politicizing but I've still got a serial killer to catch," he said.
Chapter 66
Sarah Ross was having trouble sleeping.
She and Rocco had spent the entire day fishing, just the two of them. They had made up a picnic basket with wine and sandwiches, then leisurely scouted a new shelf they accidentally discovered two days before.
Normally, a full day of fresh air out on the water made for a great night of sleeping. Tonight, however, she was tossing and turning.
She knew what was bothering her. It was that damn show. Nation’s Most Wanted. And the special news bulletin that followed.
The strange thing was, she and Rocco had watched the show many times before and it hadn't affected her this way. It wasn't the violence depicted in the show's re-enactments or fear on her part that there was a serial killer quite possibly in the area.
Rocco kept a handgun in the drawer next to his bunk. She wasn’t worried about their safety.
No, it was more like she was forgetting something important, something nagging at her subconscious.
She kicked the blankets off the bed, walked to the rear of the cabin and sat down at the small dining table anchored solidly to the floor. There was a small pot of tea with a cup’s worth still left inside, so she poured the contents into a small paper cup and sipped while staring out the small windows at the stars perched overhead.
Her mind went back to the show and the re-enactments. That killer was a bad man and she certainly hoped he had no intention of coming around here.
Those poor people that he killed were all so young. It almost made her feel guilty that she had outlived them.
Was that it? Was it just her maternal instinct kicking in?
Sarah drained the rest of the tea and set her cup down but accidentally caught the lip of the sugar jar and it toppled over onto its side, sending a mound of sugar onto the top of the table.
She went to get a roll of paper towels, then suddenly stopped. A memory hit her like a splash of cold water.
The man she had seen a morning or two ago - the early morning fisherman who carried his rods and walked onto the boat while she was having her morning coffee - Why had she suddenly remembered him? He hadn’t really looked like the killer from the show. So why had she thought of him?
It had just seemed odd.
She sat back down at the dining table.
What to do? She debated about waking Rocco but he wouldn't be much help. Besides, she was pretty sure her imagination was just kicking into overdrive.
What would she say to the police? That she saw a man who made her feel suspicious?
Maybe it would help if she could remember the name of his boat. The cops could just find out who owned the boat and call the person.
What was the name of it? It was a dog's name or something like that.
She frowned as she concentrated. No, it wasn't a dog. It was something about a pet.
She drummed her fingers on the table and then slammed down her hand.
Teacher's Pet.
That was it.
She grabbed the phone book and found the Rodgers Bay police station's non-emergency number.
She picked up her cell phone and began punching in the numbers.
Chapter 67
Soergel stood next to Ray Mitchell’s vehicle when he heard the phone ring. He glanced into the car and saw Ray’s cell phone vibrating with the call.
Soergel glanced over at Mitchell, who was standing about fifty yards away at the front doors of Rodgers Bay's only hospital, St. Mary's. The detective was in deep conversation with Chief Lenzen. Soergel had stayed by the car feigning the need to smoke a cigarette and hoping to get a quick look through Mitchell's case notes.
Now, he took the opportunity and picked up the detective’s cell phone.
"Yeah?"
"Detective Mitchell?"
Soergel smiled.
"Yeah, this is Mitchell, go ahead."
"This is Paula at dispatch. I already put this out, but Chief Lenzen wanted me to call you directly with any important information on the Ferkovich case."
Soergel waited.
"I just got a call from Sarah Ross down at the marina. She said she thinks she saw a suspicious man on one of the boats."
Soergel felt his heart start thumping.
"She said the name of the boat was the Teacher's Pet. Before I called you, I got on the computer and tracked down the owner of the boat. It's Mary Ferkovich. She's Joe's sister."
Soergel’s mind raced while the woman continued.
Ferkovich's sister must have been lying to Ray and he was too stupid to realize it. Cops were staking out her house but they were looking in the wrong place.
She had a fricking boat!
"Well, Chief Lenzen said I was supposed to call you if anything came up on Ferkovich," the woman said, obviously expecting more of a response.
Soergel picked up on it. He responded with enthusiasm.
"Good work, Paula." Thank God he was good with names. "Tell you what I'm going to do. I'm here with Chief Lenzen and the two of us will check it out real quiet like, okay?"
"10-4," the woman said, confident now that the information was in the right hands.
Soergel hit the disconnect button on the phone.
He leaned back in the seat and casually glanced at Mitchell and Lenzen still deep in discussion.
Soergel shifted his gaze and spied the Channel 6 news van parked at the other end of the hospital's door. He'd seen Nancy come back out after trying to get an interview with the actor.
He called her from his own cell phone.
"Hey."
"I've got some news."
Soergel waited, savoring the moment.
"I know where Ferkovich is."
Chapter 68
The pain cut like a razor blade through Mike Sharpe's forehead and threatened to crack his skull in two.
He slowly opened his eyes. As the
room came into focus the pain intensified.
"Michael?" a voice said gently to his left.
Mike began to turn his head but the pain made the room spin so he stopped. Laurie's face came into view and the pain lessened enough for him to smile. But just barely.
"You're okay?" he said, his voice a whisper.
"I'm fine. How do you feel?" she answered. Her eyes, above the dark circles, were watering with tears. She reached across the bed and took his hand in hers.
He groaned in response.
"Shh. Don't try to talk."
"Tell me what happened to you," Mike said slowly.
Laurie took a deep breath and wiped away the tears from here eyes.
"When I came to, that...that man was looking at me..." she shivered. "Then he ran off into the woods. I was sick, didn't know where you were, and he came back out and drove off. I thought he might have killed you."
Mike looked away from her and stared at the ceiling.
"But then the cops arrived and the detective from Milwaukee drove off when the ambulance came."
She absentmindedly touched the bandage on her forehead.
"They looked me over and then we waited. Finally, the call came that they'd found you."
A single tear escaped from her eye and trickled down her cheek.
“They said the man who did this to you thought that you were the killer, that Ferkovich."
"What about before that?" Mike asked.
"You mean when he ran us off the road?"
Mike closed his eyes and opened them again, indicating a nod in the affirmative.
"I just remember waking up briefly and you looking back at me from the front seat and then it was lights out."
Mike paused, gathering strength.
"At first, I tried to outrun him-"
She cut him off.
"You don't have to tell me now-"
"No, I need to explain." His eyes implored her and she became quiet. He licked his lips, trying to moisten them.
"At first, I tried to outrun him, but then I thought that was a stupid idea. But when I got out of the car, he shot me. So I led him into the woods, away from you.”
She gripped his hand more tightly.
"And you know the rest."
Laurie put her other hand along Mike's forehead and stroked his hair.
"Who would have thought?" he said. "Three years in LA without so much as a scratch and then I get shot twice here."
Their eyes met, and they both laughed, Mike grimaced immediately afterward. But he felt better.
And then, his stomach went cold.
Where was the ring?
He looked around the room but didn't see his clothes anywhere.
"What do you need, Mike?" Laurie asked, seeing his searching eyes.
"Do you know where my clothes are?"
"I think they threw your shirt away but the nurse said she put the rest of your stuff in those drawers over there."
He looked at her closely but it didn't seem like she knew about the ring. Mike felt his heart start beating faster. This wasn't the most romantic place he could think of to propose, but considering what had happened he couldn't think of a better time.
Mike was just about to ask Laurie to bring him his pants when they both heard voices outside the door.
"Now what?" Laurie asked.
Chapter 69
As Chief Lenzen walked toward the front doors of the hospital, Ray looked back toward his car expecting to see Soergel arrogantly leaning against the door smoking a cigarette and plotting his next move.
But to Ray's surprise Soergel was gone.
Mitchell scanned the parking lot. He didn't see the lieutenant and he saw the Channel 6 news van was gone, too.
He shrugged off the coincidence and watched Chief Lenzen disappear inside the hospital's doors.
Ray walked over to his car, opened the passenger door and reached for his briefcase. His hand stopped in midair.
His cell phone was resting in the right pocket of his briefcase where he always put it but it was turned the wrong way. Ray always put the phone in with the screen facing him.
Was he imagining things or had Soergel used his cell phone? He looked at his call history but it had been cleared.
Ray looked off into the distance wondering what Soergel was up to.
Whatever it was, Ray knew he wouldn't like it.
Chapter 70
There was a knock at the door and Mike looked up to see Chief Lenzen standing in his doorway.
“How you doing?” the cop asked.
"I'm fine considering I got beaten up by Sasquatch," Mike Sharpe said.
"What took you guys so long?" Laurie asked, not bothering to hide the venom she felt.
"We got there as fast as we could, ma'am," said Lenzen.
"Where's the beast now?" Mike asked.
"He's in jail."
The ensuing silence forced Lenzen to continue.
"Look, you guys are tired so I'm just going to let you try to get some sleep and we'll talk in the morning.”
Just then the doctor came in.
He had a folder with some notes attached.
"And how's our famous patient doing?" he asked.
"You tell me, doctor," Mike said.
"Well, the good news is the two gunshot wounds were superficial and they did no serious damage. Your jaw, however, has sustained a hairline fracture, and your nose was broken. At this point we're going to let time work its magic. Your ribs were badly bruised but not broken."
The doctor flipped through his notes.
"I'll give you some medicine for the pain, and we'll keep you here for the night but in the morning if everything still looks good, we'll let you go."
"Well, that's good news," Lenzen offered, a comment met by cold stares from the patients.
The doctor put his hand on Lenzen's shoulder.
"Let's leave these two be until morning, Chief."
They left and Mike Sharpe promptly drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 71
It was the same dream he’d had many times over.
He was a kid again, down at the mill pond trying to catch a frog. It was a secret spot for him. Somewhere he could slip out of the house and escape the violent chaos that always arrived when his Dad came home from work. Joe would ride his bike a few blocks on back streets, cut through an abandoned lot and lean his bike against an abandoned shed at the south end of the mill pond.
When the pond froze over in the winter it was used as a hockey rink. But during the summer, it was pretty much useless. There were too many weeds and the water was murky and dirty.
So there was really no reason to come here.
Unless you just wanted to get…away.
The water was always dead calm even when there was a breeze. A fish jumped close by and it startled Joe because he didn’t think there were any in the pond. And then another one, a big one, jumped right in front of him.
Joe leapt to his feet.
And then he heard laughter behind him.
“What a wimp!” one of the boys shouted out and the older teenagers appeared behind Joe. There were three of them and although it was a relatively small town, Joe hadn’t seen any of them before. One of them was much bigger than the other two. In his hand was a rock, which he threw over Joe’s head and laughed when it splashed in the water
“More like dumb ass,” one of the others said.
Joe looked over at his bike.
He might be able to get to it if he ran–
As if reading his mind, the boy on Joe’s left fanned out and blocked his path toward the bike.
The others walked right up to Joe and the big one poked him in the chest.
“What’s your name, loser?” he said.
“Joe.”
“What the hell are you doing down here, Joe?” the big one said. “No one comes down here by themselves except queers. You a queer?”
Joe shook his head.
The other two came closer to
Joe and he stood frozen.
“What’s that?” the big one said. He turned to his buddies. “He nodded! Hell, he’s a queer!”
The other two started laughing and Joe made his break. He lunged between the big guy and the one on his left, toward his bike, but someone tackled him and the next thing he knew the big one was sitting on his chest.
“Hold him down, boys,” he said.
Joe watched with horror as the boy sitting on his chest unzipped his pants.
“Now listen, Joe. I’m going to put something in your mouth, and if you bite down I’m going to beat you and throw you in the pond where no one will ever find you. Got that?”
Joe was shaking and couldn’t answer.
He jerked awake in his sleep. Sweat poured down his face and his hands shook.
Joe rolled off the bed and stood, listening closely. He heard something. Maybe a car door.
His fear was gone. In its place was cold rage. He prayed that someone was coming to the boat.
Chapter 72
Ray's cell phone rang.
"Mitchell."
There was a pause on the other end of the line.
"This is Detective Mitchell, is anyone there?" he asked into the silence.
"I, I, your voice sounds different,” a woman responded.
"Who is this?"
"Paula, at dispatch, Rodgers Bay Police Department."
"Paula, have we spoken before?"
"Well, I thought we did just a few minutes ago,” she said, her voice tentative.
Ray felt his blood start to boil.
Soergel.
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. Sometimes in our department detectives have to share the same phone because of budget cutbacks.”
"Oh," said Paula, not sounding entirely convinced.
"Why don't you repeat the conversation you had with the other detective."
She relayed the information to Ray and he nearly exploded.
"And the reason I called again was to say that I forgot to tell you the name of Sarah Ross' boat. It's called Fish Food."