The Morelville Mysteries Collection

by Anne Hagan

  “Them?”

  “A car full of guys.”

  “I already got a description of the vehicle from him Sheriff,” Gates said. “Zanesville put out an APB.” His eyes flared with what I knew he wasn’t about to say in front of the victim. There wasn’t a lot of hope for us or for PD to nail them. Every officer on duty was just doing what they could to stop the bleeding. Actually corralling anyone and pinning anything on them wasn’t very likely.

  A sound in the distance drew my attention. As I looked up, a news chopper flew overhead. “Great,” I muttered under my breath. “Just what we need.”

  ###

  By the time my deputies and the Zanesville guys gained some semblance of control back over city and I got home, it was after midnight. Dana was sound asleep sitting half propped up in bed with her bedside light on and a book in her lap. Boo was curled up on the bed, at the foot. She looked up at me but then laid her fuzzy little head right back down.

  I felt so bad about having had to leave earlier and about the fact that Dana obviously tried to wait up for me. As gently as I could, I picked up the book and placed it on the nightstand. She wasn’t much for thrashing around in the night but, if she did slide down and try and get a little more comfortable, I didn’t want the book hitting the floor and jarring her awake.

  As quietly as I could, I undressed and slipped into bed. My plan was to catch about four hours of shut-eye before I headed back into the station.

  Since PD had managed to collar the low level gangbanger I’d witnessed them trying to cuff at the shooting scene, they planned to interrogate him. I knew they’d work the biker known on the street as Maggot until they got something useful out of him. I wanted to be at my desk and available to receive the lowdown when they broke the guy.

  ###

  Early Tuesday Morning, February 10th, 2014

  Sleep was pretty elusive. My brain worked overtime trying to figure out what had triggered the gang war and the sudden widespread rash of crime in the county. I was at a total loss. All I could do was pray that whatever it was, it had played itself out and the two warring factions would go back to hibernating until spring.

  When the clock registered 4:00 AM and I knew trying to catch a half hour more time in the sack was useless, I got up. As I gathered a fresh uniform and underclothes in the dark, I stole a few glances back at Dana. She stirred but didn’t wake. Boo, on the other hand scooted to the edge of the bed and was watching me like a hawk but she didn’t bark or indicate she was interested in getting up herself just yet.

  I tiptoed out of the room and waited to see if she’d follow me then breathed a sigh of relief when she didn’t.

  After a quick shower in the main bathroom so I didn’t wake my wife by using the one in our room, I started to ready myself to leave. A glance at the clock told me it wasn’t even 4:30. The county roads into town will be deserted for another hour yet. I have time to refocus for a few minutes.

  With Valentine’s Day being Saturday, I knew I really wanted to do something special for Dana. Her mother’s call left me feeling like I’d been neglecting her completely and me coming home and then turning around and leaving again, I’m sure, didn’t help my case with her one whit.

  I didn’t have a clue yet about what to do Saturday but I had an idea for right now. I detoured into my den, sat down and grabbed a pad of paper and a pen. I thought for a minute about what to say. Finally, I just tried to pour my feelings out onto the paper but, in the end, I wasn’t sure what I said didn’t sound corny or forced. All I really wanted was to be with my wife.

  Ten minutes later, not full satisfied but feeling like I’d managed to bare my soul a little, I signed it off. After scrounging an envelope, I scrawled Dana across it and carried it with me to the kitchen.

  The buzzing of my department cell distracted me. Duty called. Instead of leaving the letter on the table for Dana to find when she got up as I’d intended, I ended up carrying it outside with me. While my truck warmed up in the morning chill, I walked up the driveway and put it in the mailbox. That’ll be more fun for her to find it there anyway...

  Holly was at her desk by 5:30, a scant 10 minutes after me.

  “We have to stop meeting like this Mel. All these crazy hours, people are going to talk.” She grinned and I grinned back.

  “I was just looking through the overnight blotter,” I told her. “It looks like it quieted down a little.”

  “It probably got too cold for ‘em all to keep at it out there. It is February, after all.”

  “What’s the high supposed to be today?”

  “Low thirties, I think,” she replied.

  “Good, more normal. Let’s hope that cools their jets a little bit.”

  Chapter 5 – Regroup

  Victor Voll - Chief

  Z Renegades Clubhouse, Abandoned Farm, South Zanesville, Ohio

  “What the hell was all that shit?” I thundered at the full assemblage of patched in members sitting around me in the damp living room of the old farmhouse. “That was bullshit; that’s what that was; the saddest thing I’ve ever seen. Whose bright idea was it to create mass hysteria, get another gang gunning for us and bring the law, the news...all those stupid fucks raining down on us and chasing us around?”

  Nobody spoke.

  “Is this how you’re trying to impress me to earn the right to stand here and give you clowns hell? I’m not fucking impressed! That kind of shit stops right now! Right fucking now!”

  I looked over at Traveler, “Get another plan old man. This one’s done.”

  “But Chief,” he whined back, “it wasn’t even my idea...I wanted to...”

  I cut him off. “You’re my number two. You want to be Chief, fucking act like it. Take charge of this shit and do something that actually helps your club, otherwise, you may as well just kill me after all.”

  Pinch laughed loudly.

  “You got something to say?” I asked him.

  “That ass can’t do anything useful, is all.”

  “Then you figure it out. Somebody needs to do something.”

  I looked around the room, catching several faces in my gaze. “Some of you weren’t here Sunday morning. I’m going to say this one more time in case the message didn’t come across then or you weren’t here to get it. Ya’ll can ally yourselves with certain brothers if that’s what you want to do but one man, ONE MAN, gets to be Chief. That’ll be the man who impresses me the most. Period. Figure it out. You want my position; you need to aim a lot higher.”

  I shivered involuntarily. “Figure out how to get some heat in this shithole too. It’s fucking freezing in here.”

  I looked around the room at all of the men just sitting there staring back at me. “Don’t all jump at once!” Disgusted, I told them, “I got shit to do. I’m out of here.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Pinch eye-balling Traveler as I walked out the door.

  ###

  Dana

  Morelville, Ohio

  I grabbed the mail out of the box as I walked back to the house after pulling a morning shift at the store. Boo was circling to go out as soon as I hit the door so I dropped everything on the kitchen table, hooked her to her long retractable leash instead of her short one we used for walks and I ran her outside.

  “Still can’t trust you to stay in the yard,” I half scolded her as we stepped out into the brisk late morning air.

  While she did her business at one end of the lead, I unlocked my little writing hut while hanging onto the other end, then reached inside and flicked the knob to turn up the heater Mel had put in to keep the hut at a more comfortable level for humans. I had some ideas for the book I was working on and I wanted to see if I could get them down before they flitted away.

  When Boo was finished, she charged back toward me, then passed me and propelled herself right into the hut. She took up her customary place on the floor about a foot in front of the heater.

  “Well then, all right little lady. I guess we’re going ri
ght to work today.” Getting a little lunch first forgotten for now, I sat down in my chair, booted my computer up and lost myself in the pages of my novel for a couple of hours until my bladder was screaming.

  “Let’s go Boo. Mama needs to potty now.” I wonder what it would cost me to put plumbing out here?

  While I nibbled a sandwich, I leafed through the mail I’d forgotten about earlier. I almost didn't recognize the handwriting from the letter I ran across at the bottom of the stack. It wasn’t postmarked or stamped, it just had my name on it.

  That’s Mel’s scrawl, I think. She must have put this in the box before she left for work...

  I opened the note expecting a reminder about picking up something at the store or some such thing.

  Dana,

  I’m reminded that Valentine’s Day is coming soon. I want to do something special with you that night; even more special than being with you, married to you, is each and every night. I love you so much – more than I could ever possibly put into words. You’re my whole world baby and I never want to be away from you, not even for a minute.

  I know these last few months have been tough. I appreciate your support and, at the same time, I feel bad that I never seem to be able to be there long enough to do the things we’ve talked about doing. I’m doing the best that I can. It’s frustrating most of the time these days but coming home to you makes it all worth it.

  I’m trying to plan something for Saturday. I really am.

  I love you Dana, to the moon and back, always.

  Mel

  I just let my tears fall.

  Chapter 6 – Replay

  Mel

  Early Tuesday Evening, February 10th

  “His street name is ‘Shock’. I’ve had him in the lock-up for low level dealing more than once,” I told Mason.

  She looked down at the dead gangbanger lying prone on the sidewalk. “It’s early yet and this is pretty residential here. Did he work this area a lot?”

  “No,” I said as I shook my head. “That’s just it. South Zanesville is all Z Renegades stomping ground now; has been for a few years. He was a duck out of water being down here.”

  “A Renegade hit, you think Sheriff?”

  “That’d be my guess, if I were a guessing woman. Given all the fighting that’s gone on between the two gangs these past couple of days, I have to think he came down here looking to score some new clients or heaven knows what and, since he was alone, they snuffed him out quick.”

  “Did PD get anything out of that biker they collared last night?”

  “Nope. He clammed up and demanded a lawyer, they tell me. They’re waiting on the Public Defender’s Office to assign someone.”

  Lucas Kreskie, the County Coroner showed up on the scene. After we gave him a brief rundown of the little we knew, I said to Mason, “Let’s start canvassing the area; see if anyone around will admit to seeing anything. Be careful,” I cautioned her. “There are good people here and there are Z Renegades here.”

  Even in the cold of February, for a South Zanesville neighborhood, it was unusually quiet. We spent an hour going door to door looking for witnesses – anybody that saw or heard anything. We got nothing. Anyone that did bother to answer the door, wasn’t inclined to talk to the police.

  Disheartened by the lack of public cooperation, we retreated back to my county SUV and headed for the station.

  “The people I did get to open the door wouldn’t talk at all. They’re scared Sheriff. Is it all about the bikers?”

  “Now, yeah, but it’s always been controlled by one gang or another. As fast as we root ‘em out, some other gang seems to move in to take their place. The ‘Z’ expanded East from Columbus about three years back and most of them settled south of the city. As a matter of fact, they used to call Barb’s bar, The Boar’s Head a little further east, home. She managed to root them out of there and clean the place up but, being bikers, they’re a little harder to get a handle on and run completely off than some of the other gangs we’ve run into.”

  I sighed. “Once they gave up on hanging out at the Boar’s Head, I figured we were done with them causing general havoc. It was a quiet summer, this past summer...at least, as far as gang activity goes.”

  “You would think the dead of winter and the cold weather would keep them lying low right now,” Janet replied.

  “You would think.”

  ###

  Victor Voll – Chief

  Late Tuesday Evening, February 10th

  Outside the ‘Z’ Renegades Clubhouse, South Zanesville, Ohio

  “I got him Chief. It’s my kill,” Major ‘Rat Tail’ Foote claimed. He was standing out in front of the ramshackle abandoned farm house we were using as our hangout with one foot up on the running board of my Navigator.

  “That so?” I asked him. “What if I heard differently?”

  “Ain’t nobody better be tryin’ to take credit for my hit! I’ll kill them too!”

  “That’s why I came down here. I’m hearin’ two different stories.”

  “Who’s claimin’ it? Traveler? I’ll show you the damn gun.”

  “You might have to. Let’s go.”

  Inside, where it was no warmer than it had been in the morning when I’d told them to do something about getting heat, I found only a few of my guys, Traveler among them. He was sitting at a beat up wooden table with a bottle of cheap whiskey in front of him. He was drunk and running his mouth to the other two men in the room.

  I eyeballed my number two as I walked toward the lot of them with Rat Tail following behind me. “Walker McGinnis, get on your feet,” I told him.

  Traveler stood slowly on shaky legs. His eyes darted between me and Rat Tail. Nervously, he licked his lips.

  I told the other two pins in the room to take a hike. Once they’d made themselves scarce, I addressed both of the remaining men. Holding a hand out to stay Rat Tail, I asked, “It’s come to my attention that a Demon was killed in a drive by a couple of hours ago. What do you know about that McGinnis?”

  Traveler braced a hand on the table for balance. It was obvious to me that he’d been drinking for several hours. He didn’t respond.

  Lowering my hand, I looked now directly at Rat Tail.

  “I told you Chief. I got the kill. Here’s my piece.” He slid a 9mm out of the back of his waistband and handed it to me, grip first.

  I could smell gunpowder on the piece. “How many shots did you take?”

  “Er, two. First one missed. I caught him quick though before he could duck and cover.”

  I ejected the magazine and pulled the rounds out, counting. There was room for two more if Rat Tail had gone out fully loaded. I put the bullets back in the magazine, reseated it, locked and loaded and pointed it at Traveler. “Explain.”

  Traveler raised his hands in a defensive move. “Don’t kill me Chief. Please don’t kill me. I didn’t mean no harm, I swear. I was just having a little fun, is all. I’ve been right here...right here.” He licked his again.

  “Did you listen to a word I said this morning?” I didn’t lower the gun.

  “Yes Chief, I did...I did. I’m not a young man anymore...you know? It’s cold today. I figured I’d let these younger guys fight it out after all. I...I stayed back here and...and I worked on getting us some heat. That’s what I did.”

  “Oh yeah?” I questioned him. I took a look all around but I didn’t see any evidence of him having brought in a kerosene heater or trying to build an sort of fire. “And what did you come up with?”

  “I’m still working on it...I...”

  I shot him twice in the chest.

  Handing the piece back to Rat Tail, I told him, “One time for each set of lies. I hate liars.”

  I kicked at the drunken junkie on the floor. He was good and dead. “Find something to roll his body up in and help me load him in my truck.”

  Chapter 7 – Do Over

  Mel

  Early Wednesday Morning, February 11th

  Mor
elville, Ohio

  Since Tuesday hadn’t ended with more rioting in the streets of Zanesville and since my duty cell had been quiet overnight, I actually managed to catch more than a few hours of sleep. I woke up at 5:00 not really feeling fully rested but certainly better than I had in a few days.

  Creeping back into the bedroom from our little bathroom after my shower, I was surprised to find Dana awake and sitting up in bed.

  “Come here you,” she beckoned me.

  “Why?”

  “Just come here.”

  “But I’m practically naked here...”

  “Your point being?”

  I moved closer to our bed. “I have to go to work babe.”

  “I know; I just want to give you a proper send off.” She raised her chin toward me and crooked a finger to motion me even closer in. When our lips met, she raised both hands to my face and cupping it, laid a searing kiss on me that vibrated me to my toes.

  Dragging myself away before I lost all sense of time and place, I repeated to her, my voice tremoring, “I have to go to work.”

  Dana grinned. “Have a great day!”

  After shaking myself, I gathered my underthings and a uniform and got out of there. As I dressed in the main bathroom, I couldn’t help thinking that Dana’s kiss had been because of my note. If notes like that lead to me getting more kisses like that then maybe I’ll just have to become Cupid himself.

  I tiptoed back toward the bedroom. The door was still closed and I couldn’t see light from inside anymore. Dana must have lain back down for a while. I knew Boo would have her up soon though so I had to work fast.

  Moving into the den, I grabbed another piece of paper and jotted another note. This time, it came a little easier. Heartfelt honesty is probably the best policy after all.

  I left the house and put the new letter in the mailbox then climbed in my truck and headed to work. Please, let it be an easy day for once.

  Dana

  ###

  “Thank you Mrs. Stroud. Have a nice day.”