Big Noise: A Jo Spence Mystery

by Jen Wright

  Off to the right was a makeshift dump. To the left stood a barn and several rusty metal sheds. The filthy slop of the pigpens became more evident as she passed fenced areas leading up to the house. She quickly shut the outdoor air vents on the Rover, but not quicly enough. At least the driveway was plowed, and several cars that appeared to be working were parked along the drive next to the house.

  As she drove up, a Rottweiler lunged from the porch at her car, stopping only when the chain he was on jerked him up short.

  Shit! Now what am I going to do. A light went on, and the door opened a crack, so she got out of the car and raised her hand in greeting. A large man opened the door fully, but he didn't wave back.

  "Sir, can I speak to you about Katie?"

  "What's it about?"

  "I'm looking for Rick. He's missing."

  "Rick's not here."

  "Would you secure your dog so I can talk to you?"

  "You police?"

  "No, I'm a friend of Rick's. I'm trying to find him."

  The man put his dog inside the house and walked up to her. He was a good 300 pounds and had on bib overalls with no shirt. Apparently, the cold didn't bother him.

  In an attempt to set a friendly tone, Jo stuck out her hand as he approached. "Jo Spence," she said. She didn't want to touch him, but she knew that she had to establish rapport if she expected to get anything out of him.

  He returned her handshake. "Walt."

  "Nice to meet you, Walt. Do you know Rick?"

  He nodded his head. "Sure do. He was seeing my Katie. Way too old for her, if you ask me. I think he got her into drugs."

  "What kind of drugs?"

  "Shit, I don't know, drugs is all. She wasn't right sometimes when she did come home. Lost a lot of weight. Stayed out for days at a time. No, I don't miss the little fucker. He hasn't been around here in a while."

  "How long?"

  "Three weeks, maybe a month."

  "Did they break up?"

  "I didn't ask."

  "Did she say anything about him being missing?"

  "No, but when I get a hold of her, she's going to have a lot of explaining to do."

  Jo figured that Nate hadn't yet notified him that Katie was in detention. Jo wasn't about to let that cat out of the bag. She assumed that it had something to do with abuse she'd suffered at the hands of her father. They would need to investigate that before notifying the alleged perpetrator of her location. "She's missing, too?"

  "Haven't seen her in a couple of weeks. I'm thinking she took off with him. Sounds like they went missing around the same time."

  "Look, I can appreciate you wanting to have her come home. Maybe we can help each other out here. I care about Rick. I need to find out what happened to him. I can easily work Katie into my search."

  Walt grunted.

  "Did any of your sons know Rick?"

  "Don't know."

  "Can we go inside and talk a bit?"

  He rubbed his chin. His bare arms and chest were starting to look red from the cold.

  "OK, you can come in and talk to my boys, but I want to be there."

  The dog growled at Jo as she entered the house, but Walt raised his hand at the dog, and he cowered and sank to the floor. Inside, the old wallpaper in the large living room was stained from roof leaks. Five beat-up couches circled a big-screen TV and the woodstove. Jo counted four semi-grown kids and what appeared to be Mrs. Shantree lying on a couch of her own. No one bothered to get up as Jo entered, and no introductions were made.

  Jo followed Walt as he led her into the kitchen. Dirty dishes covered every counter, and ashtrays littered the table. Walt sat down at the table, lit a cigarette, motioned for her to sit across from him, and hollered, "Boys." When no one responded, he banged his fist on the table. "God damn it, get in here. Now!" Four boys slouched into the kitchen entryway. "This woman wants to talk to you about Rick."

  Walt got up and poured himself a shot of straight whiskey. He sat down and sipped it, prepared to supervise the whole interaction.

  "I'm Jo Spence, a friend of Rick's." Jo waited a beat, and no one said anything. "Have you seen him recently?" All she got in response were shrugs.

  "Was he into anything illegal?"

  "Look, lady, all we know is what we hear. The guy was into selling hot electronics. He was also a meth addict. Nothing big time." The young man who answered looked barely awake.

  "What's your name?"

  "Josh."

  "Thanks, Josh. Anything will help me. I need to find him."

  "Why do you care?"

  "I've mentored him over the years. Tried to help him straighten out his life."

  One of the young men coughed and said, "Nice work." The rest of them laughed. It took all Jo had not to lunge at him. She was outnumbered, though, and it wouldn't help anything.

  She could feel the young men leering, and she was the object of their stares. Her skin started to crawl, but she had to keep trying to get something that might help.

  "I found handmade crosses all over the woods where he went missing. Do you know who might have made them?"

  Walt immediately sneered, "We're not religious," and took another sip of whiskey.

  Turning back to Josh, Jo asked, "Do you know who's the top dealer in this area?"

  Again, Walt answered for everyone, "We don't have anything to do with drugs in this house. My oldest son Chip died dealing drugs. First he got shot and lost his sight in one eye. Didn't learn his lesson. Then he got himself killed. Learned his lesson then."

  Josh gave a smirk and crossed his arms. She got the feeling that he was dealing drugs right under his dad's nose. She noticed a bulge in his front pocket. It looked like a wad of bills to her.

  Jo left her cell phone number with them in case they thought of anything else. Walt walked her out to the car. "I don't want Rick coming around here again."

  Jo nodded. "I hear you. He's way too old for her, and I'm sorry he introduced her to drugs." Jo didn't really believe this, but she had to keep the lines of communication open in case she needed to work with this slob in the future.

  "If he comes around here again, I won't be hospitable." He hefted his belly up a bit. "That little fucker shows his face, and he may not walk out of here."

  "If I find him, I give you my word that I'll tell him he isn't welcome here. You know kids, though, sometimes if you forbid something, they want it all the more."

  "Not in my world." He cracked his knuckles and spat for emphasis.

  Jo understood that he dealt with most problems through violence. She drove out to the road, called dispatch, and cancelled her status check. She made it home within 45 minutes, and Zoey greeted her at the door, relief written all over her.

  "How'd it go?"

  "I didn't get much. The boys at that house are pigs. The old man is a bully, and he doesn't like Rick one bit. Doesn't want him around his daughter."

  Jo sat down at the table and put her head in her hands. Zoey came up behind her and massaged her shoulders.

  "That place is like something out of Deliverance. We're talking north country hillbillies. Walt is violent as hell. Thinks he's in control of his household, and his sons are dealing right under his nose."

  "Do you think he hurt Rick?"

  "He's capable of it. He still wants a piece of him, though. I did find out that they're not religious, so the cross thing doesn't fit. But I don't have a clue about what happened to Rick. I've still got nothing."

  CHAPTER 21

  Jean was full of anticipation as she drove into the long driveway to Frank's cabin. Every time she pulled up to the cabin, she was overtaken by how much she loved this man. Could it really only be a year that we've been seeing each other? My feelings for Frank are so much more than for Don, and I've been married to him for fifteen years.

  She reminded herself that it wasn't really a fair comparison. Don had changed a lot. He wasn't the same man she had fallen in love with. He'd become more and more unstable.

  Beca
use Jean and Frank both lived in Two Harbors, they had to meet elsewhere. Frank had built this cabin as their meeting place. She remembered the last conversation they had had about her possibly leaving Don: "I'd leave him if I could. You have to know that. He'll kill you if he finds out. I'm worried he already knows something's up. Please, please, let me figure this out."

  When she saw Frank's old Silverado truck, she felt a wave of relief rush over her. She quickly parked her Explorer and ran up to his cabin. It was still cold out, and she felt the warmth of his woodstove as she entered the cabin. After Frank had built the simple pine structure, she had added her own "womanly touch" by decorating it with colored rugs and throws. The smell of coffee as well as Frank's aftershave permeated the small cabin.

  Their stolen moments had been scarce lately because of her sinking feeling that Don knew about them. She took a moment to look out the window to make sure she hadn't been followed before walking into Frank's embrace. Breathing in his musky scent, she held him for a minute without speaking. When she did look up into his warm brown eyes, he cradled her tiny face in both of his hands and kissed her lightly at first.

  She murmured, "I missed you so much," and kissed him back with all of the longing she had saved up. He led her directly into the only bedroom, where they greedily consumed each other in their lovemaking.

  "I want more of this. More of us." Frank looked pained. He tried to remember all of the practiced conversations he had had in his mind and even in front of his mirror at home before beginning. He visualized her saying yes to his request.

  "Jean, let's go away together. We can start a whole new life. I've saved some money, and I know I can make a home for us if we could just leave this place behind."

  Her heart broke a little to see him longing like this. "I know that's what you'd like, sweetie. I would, too, except I'm too afraid. I think he knows about you. I'm afraid for you." She looked closely at him for a response.

  "Me, like as in me specifically?" he pointed his index finger toward his chest. She could see the fear in him.

  "No, I don't think he know it's you, but I think he knows I've been unfaithful. It's making him worse. He's more controlling. It's scaring me more than ever before."

  "Let's go, then. I can get a job in Texas. Let's run away together. Let's start a life. Our life. Our real life. I promise you, I'll never stop loving you." His earnestness touched her heart deeply, and she had to admit to herself that she had been pondering the same thing. All that was stopping her was the very real knowledge that Don would hunt her down and possibly kill Frank.

  "Do you know someone? Do you have a lead on a job?" She wanted to believe, at least for a moment, that it was all possible.

  He smiled broadly as he realized she was seriously considering it. "Yes, my company has a branch down there. I've made some inquiries. I could set it up. I make good money. We could have a life. We could be together." He felt like he was racing to the end of this speech, but he couldn't slow down. He cupped her face in his hands, looking into her eyes.

  They heard footsteps, and before they could even get out of bed, Don was standing over them with a rifle pointed right at Frank.

  CHAPTER 22

  Don watched as his wife, Jean, left the coffeeshop and got into her SUV. Rather than turn right to go toward their home, she turned left. He followed behind in his stolen car. He was glad he'd been successful in stealing the car because he was virtually unrecognizable. Its dark, tinted windows were exactly what he needed to follow her undetected.

  Stealing the car had been easy. He didn't understand why so many crooks got caught stealing cars. He had stopped at a convenience store to buy some dry goods for his pantry in the bunker when he noticed that a man had run into the store after leaving his car running. The man asked for directions to the bathroom. Without a thought, Don slid into the car and drove it six blocks away. On his return to get his own car, he went into the store again and bought some gum before driving away. The man was impatiently waiting for the police to arrive so that he could report the theft.

  Don drove back to where he'd parked the stolen car and jumped behind the wheel. He quickly drove north toward Big Noise and away from the local police. The heater in the little car was pumping out heat, and his confidence grew with each illegal act he committed.

  Yes, my fornicating little wife, I'm going to catch you once and for all. You won't be able to lie your way out of this. I'll catch you with him, and then I'll bring you to repent your sins before God. I have been preparing a place for you.

  Don felt a sense of strength and purpose and a now-familiar anticipation as he watched her turn her car into the long driveway. He had followed her before, but this time he was ready. Their sacred place was ready, and he would put an end to her sinning. This was it. He knew it. He would catch her red-handed. He knew that he was capable of killing in the name of God. He had an erection and felt a little uneasy about how the thrill of being in power was turning him on. He thought about how he and Jean would finally be together again once he righted this wrong. He convinced himself that that was all his erection was about.

  He guided the stolen vehicle over to the side of the road and began walking on foot. He didn't know how long the driveway was, but Jean's car was well out of sight as he turned into the driveway. He had brought his rifle and was steeling himself as the cabin came into view. In a matter of minutes, he was standing next to his wife's car. Alongside it stood a dark grey Silverado truck. The temperature was steadily climbing since the low of minus thirty, but it was still cold outside. Don was so angry that he barely felt it. He had sturdy insulated hiking boots, long underwear, a parka, and a hat and gloves. He knew how to prepare for this mission.

  He stole quietly up to the cabin, turned the knob, and headed right into the cabin and into the only bedroom. Jean and Frank grasped at the sheet in order to cover their nakedness. The smell of their sex hung in the air.

  "Cover your filth, and get up. We're going for a ride." When neither one of them moved, Don took his rifle and shoved it none too gently into Frank's neck. "I said move!"

  Frank quickly began picking up and redressing in the clothes he had hastily thrown about the room. Jean didn't move but started pleading with Don, "Don't do this! I won't see him again, I promise!" Her voice was shaking.

  "You need to repent. Get dressed!" He hadn't screamed it, only pointed the gun at Frank to get his message across. When she still didn't move, he walked up to Frank and hit him on the side of the head with the back of his hand. This got her shooting out of bed and grabbing Don's hand.

  "No, this is my fault. Leave him alone." He raised his hand again, and Jean immediately dressed. Once the two of them were ready, he led them at gunpoint past Jean's Explorer and then to the end of the driveway to the stolen car. He made Frank drive, and he sat in the backseat with Jean beside him. Resting the rifle in his lap, he felt at peace and in control. He directed their turns for about five miles until they turned onto a long driveway off the Hammond Grade.

  CHAPTER 23

  Zoey and Jo wandered over to the main cabin. The temperature had climbed up to seventeen degrees, and Zoey told Jo that she didn't think she would ever get used to the temperature swings of this northern region.

  "Everything all right?" Sandy asked.

  Jo quickly answered, "Perfect, thanks. Hey, we were wondering if we could get a tour of the firehouse and trucks sometime."

  "Sure. Only catch is we have some work to do over there. Any chance you could help out?"

  Jo and Zoey exchanged a glance that said, OK, what are we getting roped into?

  "Are we dressed OK?" Jo asked.

  "Get the heaviest outdoor clothes you have, and pick us up here in ten."

  They bantered about Amanda's antenna for the short ride to the firehouse. Once there, Sandy opened the overhead door with a handheld remote, revealing four red trucks parked side by side.

  From the side walls hung hoses, tools, and fire suits. Below the fire suits lay boot
s. The only thing missing from Jo's childhood memories was the pole the firefighters slid down to get to the trucks.

  As they entered, Jo and Zoey inhaled the atmosphere of the place. Hints of smoke and cleaning solution were the easiest to distinguish. The firehouse was heated and a little cooler than normal inside temperatures.