Jack had been listening in the hall. I TOLD THEM. RIGHT IN HIS NEIGHBORHOOD! Well they might have to wait but I don’t. He went to his little room, grabbed his truck keys, and walked quickly out of the building.
Roger’s phone rang. It was Agent Nelson, “Special Agent Dance? She has positively identified William Patterson as the man that stopped feeding her.” Roger told him the warrant and seizure notice would be ready by the time he arrived at the bank. Roger told Nelson that he would send the paperwork with a patrol unit. Not to wait. He asked Agent Nelson if he had verified Patterson was there. Agent Nelson said he had spoken with Patterson’s secretary about coming in without an appointment. He had pretended he was an investor and was only in town for a couple of hours. She assured him she was looking at Patterson as they spoke.
Roger said, “Good, and Agent Nelson? You do not need to be polite.” Roger then called the DA for the arrest warrant and the seizure papers. He specified he wanted listed any documents and records in the bank that referenced Sandy Nelson Devon, including any un-posted transactions, for all standard accounts and all trust accounts. He was learning from this deed thing….
* * *
It took a while for the gals to find Patterson’s office. He had a big corner suite, and he was bent over loading a bunch of files from his desk drawer into a box. He also had a stack of what was titled Account Transfer Receipts, and he had obviously been signing Sandy Devon’s name to them. He had made a few computer entries and neatly put the transfer slips into an envelope and into his pocket. His secretary had walked into his office and said, “Oh. Were you planning on leaving? I just told a gentleman you were here. He’s on his way over.”
William Patterson looked at her and said, “I have an appointment I am late for already, so if you could just reschedule for me, I would appreciate it.”
“He said he was only in town for a couple of hours.”
Patterson glared at her, “His poor planning is not my problem. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a few things to finish before I leave.” She walked out of the office and shut his door.
This was one big guy. We were trying to think how we could stop him once he tried to leave his office. Teresa said, “Maybe we can just drop that file cabinet on him.”
We all looked at her and Mary said, “I think KILLING him is going to set us back in class a little.”
“We could throw things at him!” I thought that was a good idea until Linda pointed to the large picture window to the waiting area, clear view of the secretary’s desk. “How does she not see that?” He started to stand up and put his overcoat on. Teresa tied one sleeve into a knot. He wrestled with it, and then his phone rang. His secretary was bent around looking at him.
He sighed, sat in his chair, and picked up the phone, “Patterson.” He listened for a minute and said, “Why don’t you just do whatever you want Fred? No, I’m not mad. I don’t care.”
Then he got up again and reached down to pick up the box. He had a money wire on his screen, and I hit the print button. His printer started, he stopped, and looked at it. When it finished printing, he folded it, put it in his pocket, and started walking away from his desk again. I hit print again. He slammed the box onto his desk, closed down his computer, ripped the paper out that had just printed and put it in his pocket. He opened his cell phone. Dialed and waited, “Hey, you sick son of a bitch, I’m leaving now! There is an extra jet at the airport if you need it, and I called to let our ‘friends’ know we need plan B. You better move your ass boy!” Patterson snapped his phone shut, looked around the office, and started walking to the door.
I yelled, “Out of ideas here!” Mary knocked a bunch of files off the corner of his desk. He just looked back and left them. Shit.
Teresa yelled, “Grab his legs.” We all dived to the floor, and he walked right through us.
He was next to the secretary’s desk when Linda screamed, “Trees!” There were four indoor potted trees in the waiting area. We each grabbed one and threw them at him.
He dropped his box and was brushing dirt from his suit when they heard, “William Patterson? FBI. You are under arrest for murder.” Patterson had tried to turn, but Agent Nelson had him on the floor with his knee in his back. He was handcuffing him. Then he had the leg irons put on him and stood him up. Agent Nelson handed the seizure warrant to the secretary and said, “Please call whatever staff can assist you in collecting the documents on this list. Our agent will remain with you. There will be no computer entries or other persons allowed in this area until we are through.” She looked like she was going to faint. Then he read Patterson his rights. LOUD…. and proceeded to walk him through the front lobby and out of the building.
Teresa called Ellen, “Hi, we…”
Ellen interrupted her, “Yeah I know. What’s with you and trees? Now I need you guys to go follow Jack. He is going to get into trouble real soon. Big trouble! Head towards Devon’s office. You should find him somewhere in Devon’s neighborhood. I have to stay with Roger and Paul a few more minutes.” Ellen looked up and said a small prayer.
* * *
Paul jumped up from his chair, “Devon’s moving again! Bastard must have just wanted a look.” Paul’s raised voice startled Roger. Roger made a motion with his hands for Paul to calm down.
Roger called Ray again, “I am sorry, but I am out of time! You got that address for me? I’ll wait on the line…”
Paul was pacing, looking at the screen, “He’s heading back towards his office!” Roger started writing and then hung up. He turned the map around and the last address looked like it actually was just behind Devon’s back yard. Paul said, “That looks like the house where we parked and watched his house the first time!”
Roger said, “He could park in any one of these garages… do whatever, walk home and our guys might not even see him.” Paul was looking at the screen. He was nearly out of his mind, “He’s half way home!”
Roger handed Paul the list of addresses, then he said, “I have one quick call.”
Roger called Agent Nelson for an update and told him to bring Patterson to the police center, not county and put him in the interrogation room. Not to un-cuff him. Then he added, “I think your senior and you can handle any statement he may make. You can be sure he is going to lawyer up.” Roger called the DA for search warrants on the four addresses for Devon and asked that they be delivered to him by patrol as soon as they were ready.
The DA barked, “Are we at the end of this thing?”
Roger answered, “One way or another, it ends now.”
That is all Paul had to hear, he ran into the ‘room’ with printed copies of the addresses. Paul held the copies over his head as he announced, “Time to take Devon down. These four addresses, we are rolling now! Go silent. He has two live hostages. We need to surprise him. Park and walk.” Chairs scraped the floor and the twelve agents in the room began checking their weapons. The metal clacking sounds of their weapons were deafening. One by one they rushed through the door and ran towards their vehicles. Chief Doyle pressed his body to the wall in the hallway to keep from getting run over. He would let these guys finish this up. They had earned it.
* * *
Jack had parked his truck behind a Smoke Shop and walked two blocks to the neighborhood directly behind Devon’s office. He was hiding by a large pine tree trying to decide which house to start with. There were a few that looked empty, but he could see tire tracks going into the garages in the light snow. He decided to try to look like a utility meter reader, except he didn’t have a notebook, so he peeled a big piece of bark from a fallen log. It actually was about the right size, and he walked up to the first house. He stood by the meter, pretended to read it, and walked across the patio. He was going to peek in, but he saw a lady feeding a baby in a high chair. He tipped his hat to her and just kept walking to the next house.
When he got to the next house, he pretended to be reading that meter and walked across that patio. He was ready to tip his hat, b
ut the house looked empty. There was a sliding patio door which anyone in construction could pick. They usually have to break in to go to work. He slid the door open slowly and peeked in. He couldn’t hear anything, and he didn’t see any furniture.
The house was dirty, and he was immediately hit with a terrible smell. Not good. His instincts were telling him to turn around and run! He was not the hero type, but he knew he had to find Sandy and Ashley. He slowly made his way down the hall with his jacket pulled up over his nose. He slowly pushed open a door and peeked in a back bedroom. He saw a woman tied to a chair with duct tape and rope. She was dead. The chair had tipped over and her body fluids had soaked the carpet around her. He figured she had probably been gone for a while. Jack gagged as he ran towards the patio door to get out. He throat was making some kind of noise he couldn’t control. When he got outside, he threw up against the air conditioner. He actually thought he was going to faint.
Teresa spotted him outside of the house and pointed to him. Mary said, “Great. What are we supposed to do with him anyway?”
Linda said, “I think we are just supposed to follow him and make sure he doesn’t get into trouble.”
Teresa said, “That’s all?” I was thinking this little adventure had potential for hurting our class score.
Jack went to the next house, same story. There was another dead woman. Once outside again he leaned against the back wall and took deep breaths. It struck him that he was seeing these women like this before their families even knew they were dead. He had a steady stream of tears he couldn’t control running down his cheeks. How do the cops do it?
He decided to go to the house that backed up to Devon’s back yard next. There wasn’t a patio like the others because it was an open basement in the back. He slid down the embankment on the light snow, looked around, and started unlocking the patio door. He slowly slid it open and heard strange noises around the corner of the wall. Maybe this house wasn’t vacant.
He tiptoed to the end of the wall, peeked around the corner, and saw two women, alive! They were bound to chairs with duct tape and had big long chains locked around their ankles. Jack was suddenly struck with paralyzing fear. This was the real deal! He was in the Monster’s Den! Both women were looking at him with panic in their eyes. There was no turning back now. He ran over to them and was introducing himself, “I’m a good guy. I am going to save you. Can I take this tape off your mouth?” He was talking to Sandy. She nodded her head.
When he removed the tape, she said, “Please undo my hands! I have a phone in my bra!” Women are so weird, Jack thought. Why would you keep a phone in your bra?
We were just outside of the house Jack was in and saw Devon leave through his back door. He started walking through the light snow heading directly for the house. What would be the word that describes panic times ten? That would be the word to describe the moment. I was wildly trying to find something to use as a weapon! We have not been prepared properly! There was a squirrel chattering at me. I grabbed it from its branch and threw it at Devon. The squirrel wildly slashed at Devon’s face as it tried to get a hold of something solid, then it jumped to a nearby branch and resumed chattering at me. Sorry.
Mary frowned at me, “What’s wrong with you? A squirrel?”
Linda saw a small branch that she pulled back so it slapped his face. He was annoyed but kept on walking. “What do we do now?” Devon was within twenty feet of the patio door.
Mary screamed, “Stick a branch between his legs and make him trip!” That worked, but he got back up and kept walking. We kept sticking branches between his legs.
Jack got a small pen knife out of his pocket and was sawing on the tape. He noticed that both women were taped just like the ones in the other houses. He looked at Sandy after he got her hands free and said, “I am going to undo your friend now.” He walked over to Ashley and carefully removed the tape from her mouth.
Ashley wailed, “You have to get us out of here! He’s coming back!” Jack was saying, “I know, I know. I almost got this cut.” Ashley’s hands were free. He noticed their bodies were taped around the basement support poles, and he started cutting the tape on them.
Sandy said, “This stupid phone isn’t working!” Jack couldn’t imagine who she was trying to call that was more important than what they were doing. Women!
Jack tossed her his, “Try this one.” He had Ashley free, but her ankle was still locked to a very long chain. Jack looked at her and said, “I need to get her undone from that pole.” Ashley was nodding, and Jack went back to cutting the tapes on Sandy’s pole. Sandy couldn’t get Jack’s phone to work either.
They all heard the patio door slide open, and then Devon was standing in front of them. “What the Hell are you doing here?”
Devon pulled his fist back to hit Jack. We had just flown into the room and were trying to find something to hit Devon with. I remembered the old man in the basement of one of the foreclosure homes, and how easy it was to conjure up items by just wishing it. I put a frying pan in Jacks hand. As if he wasn’t stunned enough, Jack looked at the pan, pulled his arm back, and hit Devon on the side of the head. Devon stumbled backward a couple of steps, and then shouted at Jack, “You’re dead!” He lunged at Jack and put his hands around Jack’s throat. Jack was trying to pull Devon’s hands away, but he just wasn’t strong enough. Devon was laughing! Jack’s face was getting red, and his knees were starting to buckle. All four of us were beating on Devon, he just couldn’t feel it. Sandy and Ashley were screaming for Devon to stop!
Ellen appeared and said, “Get Back! I’m going in!” We saw her enter Jack’s body. Jack’s face got a determined look, and he brought his arms straight up and broke Devon’s grip on his neck. Then he hit Devon three times in the face and one to the gut. With each blow Devon stumbled backwards. Devon doubled over and went down to the floor. Jack jumped on him, grabbed Devon’s arms, pulled them behind his back, and started taping his hands with duct tape. That just happened to be next to the wall. Then Jack taped Devon’s ankles, and did some kind of hog tie type thing with the tape. Devon looked like an ugly rocking horse. Jack just sat on the floor and exhaled. Ellen was out.
Devon was screaming profanities, so Jack wrapped a piece of tape around his mouth and all the way around his head. Devon was done. We all collapsed on the floor. Ellen took a bow and said she was going to get Roger and Paul. Then she looked at me, “A squirrel?” Uh oh. Sandy and Ashley had stood up during the fight. Sandy was punching the air and screaming the whole time like she was actually helping…. about as much help as we had been. Now they were clapping and hugging Jack. He was out of breath, but he managed to say, “You know the FBI is planning on checking out this neighborhood soon, so I guess we should just wait.”
Ashley had started crying. Jack put his arm around her shoulder, “It’s okay now. You’re okay now. What do you need? What can I do?”
Ashley was shaking her head, and then she wiped the tears from her cheeks and smiled, “My hero, Jack. You have done plenty, unless you can figure out a way I can shower?” She pointed to the bathroom behind them, “It’s been three days, and I got sick last night.” Ashley looked miserable.
Jack said, “How far will this chain go if we go this way?” he was dragging the heavy chain across the furnace duct which gave her another ten feet.
Ashley yelled from the bathroom, “I’m in! But…”
Jack said, “Oh… hey, take my clothes. I just put these on an hour ago!” Ashley and Sandy started laughing,
Jack had kicked off his boots, dropped his pants and taken his shirt off. “Here, take your shower and put these on.” Ashley gave him a big hug and went into the shower. Jack put his boots back on, and pulled Ashley’s chair over by Sandy so he could talk to her. He was wearing his briefs, his socks, and his boots. In minutes he and Sandy could see steam rolling from under the door.
Sandy looked spent, “You know he just took me this morning from that house, and he set the house on fire! My friends we
re in there.”
Jack looked at her, “Sal and John? They’re fine! I saw Sal before I left the police center. They got out!” Sandy was so happy she couldn’t quit giggling. Every now and then she looked over to Devon who was glaring at them. She turned her chair, so she didn’t have to see his face.
“How could I have married him?” she whispered.
Jack looked at her and said, “I think we all get fooled every now and then. You can just start over. I am just starting a new life myself!” He proceeded to tell Sandy about what he used to be like, four days ago. How he had volunteered to be a Person Of Interest, so they could trick Devon, and how he was trying to better himself. “This stuff takes time.”
They heard the water shut off in the bathroom and a scuffle around the corner by the sliding door. Roger, Paul and two other agents burst into the room with their guns drawn. Roger looked at Devon on the floor, and then at Jack, “Ashley’s not here?” Paul went pale.
Jack answered, “She’s in the shower,” and pointed to the bathroom.
Paul ran over to the door, “Ashley?”
Her voice screamed, “Paul?” The bathroom door burst open, and Ashley threw herself into Paul’s arms. She was sobbing uncontrollably.
Paul held her close until she seemed to calm down and said, “Jack’s clothes sure look better on you!” Everyone started laughing.
Roger had three patrolmen secure Devon and carry him outside to the caged patrol car. He called for an ambulance for Sandy and Ashley. One of the troopers removed the locks on their ankle chains. Roger looked at Jack and said, “I’ve got to tell you Jack, I am impressed. He is as strong as a pit bull.”
Jack said, “I don’t know what happened. I don’t know how I did it. He had me, I was goin’ down. Then all of a sudden I was kickin’ ass!” Sandy and Ashley told them how brave Jack had been.
Roger interrupted, “That doesn’t excuse that he interfered with a federal investigation.”
Alcohol Was Not Involved : A Shallow End Gals Trilogy Page 23