Carter's Cases

by Tom Heaven

  “I have no idea why we had to take a tour on such a god forsaken road,” said Betty.

  “You know damn well why. Could you please just shut the hell up and enjoy the view.” her husband replied.

  When they reached their previously identified configuration of boulders Marty turned onto a narrow trail that led to a shallow valley. It was just dumb luck that Barry had an uncle who had built a small hunting cabin there. When he got too old to use it any more, he had gladly given it to his nephew.

  Marty told the professor, “that old Indian meeting place is only about a half mile down this road.

  Barry, if you and Oliver will prepare the equipment back there, we will be ready to disembark as soon as we arrive.” The two “assistants” knew what those words meant. They each put a rope around the neck of the passenger in front of them and pulled tightly.

  For an older couple, they struggled a great deal. It was several minutes before they both lay still.

  “Damn, my arms ache from strangling that old lady. She was a tough one.” said Barry.

  “What are you gonna’ do if the next ones we get are Olympic wrestlers.?”

  Marty said, “Don’t worry about it. I don’t think we’ll be booking any tours with patsy’s you guys can’t handle.”

  As they shoveled the last of the dirt on the last grave, Marty said, “Well folks, I guess you found your meeting place, cuz this is where you will be meeting your maker.”

  When they went through what the old couple had on them, they came up with seven hundred dollars in cash, two watches, two wedding rings, a fancy camera, and four credit cards. In the couple’s hotel room, they found some expensive luggage and a diamond necklace with matching ear rings.

  ***

  They took everything up to a pawn shop in Los Angeles. Marty knew the dealer there would take stolen property and not ask any questions. They got two thousand for the necklace and ear rings and another thousand for the rest of the loot. He also knew a broker in town that would take the credit cards off their hands for a hundred each. That made a grand total of four thousand, one hundred dollars.

  “Your shares are one thousand and twenty-five each.” said Marty.

  Ollie said, “Hey man, I may not have finished high school, but even I know that four thousand and change split three ways is over thirteen hundred each.”

  “Well good for you mister math genius. You are forgetting that I am the one making payments on the van and I guess you don’t know what the word ‘assistant’ means. That means I am the boss. When did you ever hear about helpers making as much as the boss?”

  “Yeah I guess you’re right. I won’t say no more.”

  What the two “assistants” didn’t know is that Marty had worked a deal to get use of the van for free. His magnetic “Low Cost Tours” signs covered up the advertising that said, “Morris Toyota.” He had turned on the charm and told them at the dealership that he worked as a messenger, so he was on the road all day. He convinced the manager to let him drive the van on his trips around town for advertising. The magnetic signs went on, once a tour was booked and came off before he cleaned and returned the van at night. He even talked them into paying for the gas, which he would also deduct from the two dummies share of the take.

  Chapter 19

  The day after the hotel notified the police that the elderly couple was missing, Dan was reading the newspaper and saw the article about their disappearance. When Benji joined him in the kitchen, Dan said, “You know what, my friend, I wonder if the chief would let me do some consulting for him. I think this is going to be a difficult case for the team. There doesn’t seem to be many leads. They have the names of the couple, but not knowing even where they were when they vanished, suggests they won’t have many clues, if any. I think I will give him a call today. What do you think?”

  “I think it’s a great idea. I told you weeks ago that you should think about getting back in the game.”

  “Yeah, but I wasn’t ready then, I think I am now.”

  “You going to call the chief or do you want me to dial the phone for you?”

  “Alright smart-ass, I think I can handle it.”

  Benji left the room while Dan made the call. When he came back in, he said, “How’d it go?”

  “The chief was all for it. He said he would send over the case file on the missing couple right away.”

  “That’s great! Now you won’t be sitting around all day, thinking up more things for me to do.

  Chapter 20

  Two weeks later, the lethal threesome, Barry, Marty, and Ollie were sitting at Don Julio’s Bar at Pacific Beach. The ocean side of the tavern was open so folks just strolling along the beach could walk right in. That also meant the patrons had an open view of everyone walking by or playing on the beach.

  Barry was the first to see the three college age girls sitting on a blanket and smearing oil over each other.

  He said “Hey guys, look at those tasty bits of fluff on that red blanket. I wonder if they would like a tour to Mexico?”

  “Why don’t you go ask them Barry?” said Marty.

  “What are you kiddin’ me? You know they ain’t got enough money to make the risk worthwhile.”

  “I’m sure they don’t, but all work and no play makes us dull boys, don’t it? Just imagine how much fun we could have playing with those three at the cabin. There are two rooms with regular beds and a mattress on the floor in the storeroom in back. You and I can take the two bedrooms, and Ollie can take one of ‘em in the back.”

  Ollie walked up to the table and said, “Hey, how come I get the plain old mattress in the storeroom?”

  “Cuz you was in the bathroom playing with yourself when we seen the girls on the beach and come up with the plan.”

  Barry introduced himself as “Allen” and tried to convince the girls, that since they had the only red blanket on the beach, they had won a free tour to Mexico. Although the girls knew it was just a “come-on,” it was also a great coincidence as they had wanted to visit across the border but had been too afraid. It was great that they could now go with three men who knew their way around and could protect them if need be. They might have used better judgment if they hadn’t been drinking vodka and orange juice during breakfast.

  The girls went back to their hotel to change, then met the guys back at the bar thirty minutes later. Once they were in the van, the three girls sat in the middle seats with Ollie and Barry behind them.

  Marty introduced himself as “Julian.”

  “You have met ‘Allen,’ and that other handsome devil in the back is ‘Jason.’ Why don’t you introduce yourselves and tell us where you’re from?”

  “Hi, I’m Cindy, from Dallas.”

  “I’m Robin, from Memphis.”

  “And I’m Janet, Philadelphia.”

  “Wow, you guys all live so far apart. How come you’re on vacation together?”

  Robin said, “Cuz we’re freshmen at Stanford. We’re on ‘spring break’ right now.”

  “That’s great. Our trip itinerary today consists of a quick run into the mountains to some old Mixtec Indian ruins. I hope you all have your phones or cameras with you, cuz the folks back home will want to see pictures of all the great stuff you’re gonna’ see today.

  Cindy said, “Are we just going to the mountains?”

  “Absolutely not! That part of the tour only takes about forty-five minutes. Then we head for downtown Tijuana where you can check out all the great inexpensive souvenirs. When you finish shopping, we will show you some of the night spots. I gotta’ warn you though, some of the night spots are a little ‘racy.’”

  The girls giggled, and Robin said, “That’s okay, we don’t mind some ‘racy.’ After all, isn’t that why people go to Mexico?”

  The three men knew the girls would never live to see the “racy” hot night spots of T
ijuana, but they were enjoying stringing them along.

  Marty asked, “Have you girls ever had tequila?”

  “Sure,” said Robin, “We’re too young to drink booze in the states, but we drink at frat parties on Campus, and we’ve all had tequila. It’s really cool with the salt and lime.”

  Cindy said, “I want to try some mezcal. That’s the one with the worm, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah, but it’s actually a caterpillar. Why? Do you want to be the one that eats it?” Barry asked.

  “Sure, I don’t mind eating a little meat.”

  The girls all giggled when she said that.

  “Allen” broke out a bottle of tequila and apologized to the girls for not having any lime or salt.

  “Hell,” he said, “We don’t even have any glasses. If you don’t mind drinking from the bottle, we can pass that around.”

  Janet said, “That sounds a little unsanitary, don’t you think?”

  Cindy said, “Oh, don’t worry about it, Janet. The alcohol in the tequila is going to kill any germs anyway. I think you could use a little to loosen up.”

  “Alright, let’s have the bottle.”

  The conversation was limited to small talk as they drove over the bumps through the dusty trip on the road before they got to the mountains. By the time the trip was over, the tequila bottle was empty, and the girls were giggling again.

  ‘Julian’ (Marty) said, “Well here we are girls. You just wait a minute while we go in and make sure no critters have gotten in the cabin. We’ll come back for you when we know it’s clear.”

  “Wait a minute.” Said Janet. “You never said anything about a cabin. You said we were going to see some Indian ruins.”

  “And we are. We have to follow a path that goes out from the back of the cabin, and we need to drink some water before we go.”

  Janet was starting to get apprehensive and began watching the men closely. She noticed that Jason kept looking at Julian as if awaiting instructions and seemed a little nervous. Julian looked at the other men and nodded his head toward the cabin to indicate that they should get out. She also noticed that he put the van keys behind the sun visor.

  When the three men got inside, Marty told them, “This is how it is going to go down. Barry, there is some rope in the storeroom, get it and put it there on the table. When we bring the girls in, I will open the door for the first one and follow her in, then Barry you come in behind the next girl, and Ollie, you follow the last girl in. Once you are inside, we all grab the girl in front of us and throw her against the wall. Barry, you hold your girl and mine there while I grab the rope. Once we have their hands tied, they will be easier to manage.”

  Ollie said, “Be sure to tie their hands in front of them so we can lay them flat and tie their hands to the top of the beds.”

  Little did he realize that he had just made the dumbest decision of his life.

  Thanks to their planning, the girls were all restrained and screaming within ten minutes. Marty and Barry were tying their girls to each bed while Ollie dragged Janet back to the store room.

  Cindy and Robin’s screams became muffled, indicating they were gagged.

  Ollie opened the storeroom door, roughly shoved Janet inside and turned his back to her as he closed the door and turned the light on. As soon as she was inside, she began looking for anything she might use as a weapon.

  Great!

  There, on a shelf right next to the pad lying on the floor, was a hammer and a can of nails. Janet quickly jumped over the mattress, grabbed the hammer in both hands and swung it at the back of Jason’s head as hard as she could. She was sickened by the sound and feel of it crashing into his skull.

  He went down without making a sound. She marveled at the amount of blood already streaming from the back of his head.

  Quickly looking around the room for any sign of escape, she saw sunlight peeking from behind a corner of some crates stacked against the back wall. The crates were empty, so she was able to pull the entire stack out revealing a small window about six feet from the floor. She reckoned she could just fit through the window if she could open it or break all the glass out.

  Luckily, there was a roll of duct tape, next to the nails on the shelf. As fast as she could, she taped the entire surface of the glass and began striking it with the hammer. The tape deadened the sound of the glass breaking, but it still made a thumping noise with each blow.

  Apparently, the other two men were too busy with what they were doing to pay attention.

  When it was completely shattered, she just pushed on the tape, and the glass fell outside. The frame still held some sharp pieces, so she pulled one of the empty crates over to the window, covered all four edges with more tape and began squeezing through the small opening. It was tight, but she was able to make it and dropped to the ground below.

  Janet ran around to a side window and carefully peeked in. She could see a bed directly across the room where Cindy lay motionless, her head turned toward Janet and her eyes still, and lifeless. It was obvious her friend was dead. As Janet looked slightly to the right, she was also able to see Robin slumped over the foot of the bed, also not moving.

  Janet sobbed loudly and began to run toward the van. She was almost there when two large hands wrapped around her throat. She struggled and gasped but could not pull away. Her vision began to blur as each futile gasp for breath burned in her throat and chest. As the last of her life drained away, Marty let her body slump to the ground, and said, “Well, that was fun!”

  Barry came running out of the cabin yelling, “Marty, Ollie’s dead! The bitch killed him!”

  “That’s alright, calm down. I got her, and now there is one less share to split. Let’s get them buried and go check their hotel room.”

  Chapter 21

  Dan’s phone rang at eight o’clock.

  “Hello”

  “Good morning Dan. I hope I didn’t wake you.”

  “No problem chief, I’ve been up for a while, thinking about the Marston’s. Oh, and by the way, thanks for letting me consult on some cases for you. I’ve found out that I get pretty damn bored, just sitting around watching Benji clean house all day.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I get the benefit of having your take on things. You haven’t had much to go on with just that couple though, have you.”

  “That’s okay; it keeps my mind active just going over the details repeatedly.”

  “Well, I have another case for you to consider. Three young college co-eds from Stanford have disappeared. They were last seen sunbathing on Pacific Beach two days ago but didn’t show up at their hotel. Their friends tell us that they were freshmen and didn’t know their way around yet.”

  “If you go ahead and e-mail me the case notes that you have so far, I can start cross-referencing the notes I have on the old folks and see if anything pops.” “Will do, Dan. I’ll send ‘em right over.”

  “Thanks, chief. Catch you later.”

  Dan was still in a place where he didn’t want anyone from the office to see him in his wheelchair. The chief had gone along with Dan’s request to only speak with him, and only on the phone or via e-mail. The severe depression he experienced when he first got out of the hospital was almost gone, but he still had a couple of insecurity hang-ups. The last and biggest hurdle he had to get over was his self-perception.

  His feelings of inadequacy due to his inability to get an erection made it difficult to even be around women, especially attractive women who used to make him feel very much like a man. Now all he felt around them was a profound sense of loss.

  He had, however, begun to experience an itchy feeling in the tip of his penis, now and then. It was not strong enough to make him believe that function was coming back, but it was definitely a sensation that he hadn’t felt since being shot.

  Eddy was still doing his physical therapy three
times weekly, and the sessions were making the muscles in Dan’s legs as well as his upper body, more robust. Passive exercises usually result in just maintaining a patient’s muscle strength. The advanced improvement in Dan’s case was due to Eddy’s expertise as a physical therapist and Dan’s determination. They were both optimistic that he was going to walk on his own again.

  The detectives back at the division were also sure that they would see Dan on his feet again. Due to her experience as his former girlfriend, Karen was well aware of his determination and ability. She knew that the depression would not keep him down forever and that when he was completely over it, he would be back to working full time.

  She and Jerry were still living together after six months and were acting like an old married couple. They went to a movie once a week still alternated cooking dinner, and made love every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday afternoon.

  When they got home in the evening, they would rehash the day’s events at the precinct while one of them cooked. Then they would watch Chicago P.D., Hawaii Five-O, or some other cop show, before going to bed.

  One evening, after work they were discussing their day, and Karen asked Jerry if he had heard that Dan might be doing some consulting for the chief.

  Jerry was stirring some chili in a pot on the stove when she said that. He dropped the spoon and splashed some of the hot concoction on his right hand. He yelled, “Shit!” and went to the sink to rinse the burn with cold water.

  Karen said, “Honey what happened?”

  “Oh, just me being clumsy.”

  Ever since he and Karen had gotten together, Jerry was terrified that Dan would return and take her away. He couldn’t bear the thought of her leaving him.

  ***

  Meanwhile, Dan was sitting at home, in his recliner, going over the case notes on the two disappearances.

  He started by looking for any possible connection between the elderly couple and the college girls. It didn’t seem that there could be any connection given the differences in their ages and where they were from.