Double usage

by Christine Bols

  Williams felt rage roaring through his body. ‘Dammit, I think you don’t understand that this is serious. Your bitch is going to get these bandages and the rest of you stay in the corner. And don’t think I won’t use this’, he said waving his gun in front of them. Then he smiled when he saw the woman get up. ‘That’s more like it.’

  ‘It’s all right Jake, I can do it. You keep quiet and nothing will happen.’

  Williams followed Tracey with his eyes as she went into the kitchen. He heard her open a drawer and a few moments later she threw the first aid kid on the table with a thump. As she went to go back to the corner, he grabbed her arm in a vice-like grip. She spun round and with eyes, flickering with rage, looked at him. She had guts, he had to grant her that. He pulled his woolen cap from his head. The dried blood stuck to the material and he grimaced when he felt the pain shoot through his head.

  Tracey stared at the wound in disbelief. She caught the faint smell of blood and retched. He had to be very weak and she wondered if there was something she could do to overpower him, but as her gaze met the gun in his hand she thought the better of it. Jake looked pale but ready to fight. The children were crying softly. Gathering courage she opened the first aid kit and took out the disinfectant and a bandage.

  ‘That wound is too deep to just disinfect’, she said. ‘You need to have it stitched in hospital.’

  ‘You will do exactly as I told you’, he snarled through gritted teeth. ‘Disinfect that wound and put a bandage on it.’

  As she put the disinfectant on the gauze and held it against his head, he emitted an almost animal like scream and loosened his grip on the gun. Obviously Jake had been expecting this because he jumped out of the corner and came right out at Williams. As he was almost at the table, with the speed of a panther Williams fired a bullet that hit Jake right under his knee cap. Both hands clutched around his wounded knee, he fell to the floor, moaning and groaning. Timothy ran towards him, Steffie stayed in the corner, crying and sobbing. Tracey stood rooted to the ground next to Williams. She couldn’t move and hoped someone had heard the loud shot. This was the moment she regretted having bought this bungalow, far from all the other houses.

  ‘When you’re finished here, you can take care of that stupid husband of yours’, Williams shouted.

  Jake crawled back to the corner, leaning on Timothy. One leg of his pajama trousers colored red and his face was creased in pain. Tracey looked at him worriedly while she taped the gauze on Williams head. ‘Now can I take care of my husband?’ she asked angrily. Williams looked at her mockingly. He said nothing but pulled his sweater over his head, taking care that he didn’t disturb the bandage. Two small but deep wounds became visible. His left arm was covered with clotted blood. Tracey realized he must have lost a great amount of blood. He was clearly very weakened but with Jake in this condition she wouldn’t be able to take advantage of that. Reluctantly she took care of the other wounds and put bandages around it with Williams still pointing his gun towards her family.

  Jude gazed through the side window while Tim steered the car through the meandering mountain path. She caught a glimpse of a few cabins between the trees. They stopped the car at the first one and Jude ran her finger over the list she had from the phone company. She dialed the number and almost immediately someone answered the phone.

  ‘Good morning’, Jude said politely. ‘My name is Jude McCool and I am with Corvallis police. We are doing a check up on the safety of the holiday makers here. Is everything all right with you?’

  ‘Oh dear’, the woman said surprised, ‘that’s a nice thing to do. Everything is fine here, no problem.’

  ‘That’s part of our duty ma’am. I wish you a good day.’ She disconnected the phone. ‘Nothing wrong there’, she said. She repeated the procedure with the other cabins but there seemed to be no problems. There were two bungalows where nobody answered the phone, but when she called their private numbers they picked up. They decided to go and take a look anyway, but everything seemed to be fine, no traces of anyone breaking in.

  Carefully Tim turned into one of the side roads. On a small, hardly visible plate, the name Wapato was engraved. The road was a dead end without any cabins on it. Tim had a hard time turning the car around but he finally succeeded. A bit further down the road the wood became less dense, and through some open spaces they could see for a few kilometers. After they turned east the wood became dense again. Jude looked to her left and right and called a few more holidaymakers. Nothing. She started to wonder if they had made the right decision when she suddenly saw a short flicker between the trees on the left side. Tim had seen it too because he slowed down. A bit further on he parked the car and shut down the engine. The sound of the closing doors was hardly audible and they slowly glided into the direction of where they had seen the flicker. Tim was in front of her as if he wanted to protect her from any potential danger. Half hidden in the bushes they saw a white van with an open driver’s door. The setting sun shone on the outside mirror.

  ‘Bingo’, Tim murmured. He touched the blood on the driver’s seat. ‘Dried up. That car must be here for a few hours at least.’ They looked around and saw more drops of blood on the leaves of the bushes. ‘He must be here somewhere in one of the cabins.’ Jude looked on the list she had taken with her. ‘The next cabin is 846.’

  They stayed low to the ground as they advanced. After a few minutes they saw the cabin. It was built in light brown wooden planks. The curtains were drawn but there was a small glimmer of light shining through.

  ‘Early in the day to close the curtains’, Tim said in a low voice.

  Jude took out her mobile phone and dialed the number. She let it ring six times but there was no answer, nothing moved behind the curtains. ‘Why on earth would he hide in a cabin with the people living there?’ Jude asked surprised.

  Tim pointed at a dark brown Sedan parked between two oak trees. ‘Maybe he hopes to get away in that car.’

  ‘If he had wanted that he could have done so hours ago. I don’t understand why he would wait almost a day. He must know we’re closing in on him.’

  ‘Jude please, I know as much as you do’, he said irritated. When he saw her look at him with hurt eyes he said: ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way.’

  They crept behind the car to get a better view of the window. What little grass there was, reached above their ankles.

  ‘Call Foster. He has to find out how many people this family consists of’, Tim said. ‘I want as much information as possible. And hold the line while he looks it up, don’t have him call back.’

  ‘I’m not that stupid Tim’, she said hurt. Jude stayed behind the car while Tim crawled to the right hand side of the cabin. It had started raining and it was getting cold. The zipper of his vest made a shrilling noise when he closed it. He heard Jude whispering in her phone and crawled further until he reached the rear of the house. The branches of an oak tree reached one of the windows at the back. The curtains were drawn here too but there was no light showing. Everything was abnormally quiet. A shiver ran down his spine.

  ‘Shhh…’ he heard. Jude was sitting as close to the bushes as possible and held her phone up as a sign she had news from Foster. He turned round and crawled back towards her.

  ‘And?’ he whispered.

  ‘The cabin belongs to the Hubbard’s, a family of four. Jake Hubbard and his wife Tracey and the children Timothy and Stefanie. Timothy is sixteen, Stefanie fourteen. There is a problem though. Stefanie has a serious kidney problem and has to go to dialysis on a regular basis.’

  ‘I think they’re all in the room in the front. We could try getting in through the back.’

  Jude shook her head. ‘Foster wants us to wait for backup.’

  Tim looked at her in disbelief. ‘ Backup? Does he mean Connely and Haynes?’

  ‘They are on their way too, but Foster is calling in the FBI.’

  ‘Dammit’, he said. ‘Why on earth is he doing that? He should have consulted me first
. Believe me, we’re better off without them.’

  ‘He said there would be someone with special negotiating skills.’

  ‘Negotiations’, Tim said sarcastically, a bit louder than he intended to. ‘A blitz attack, that’s what needed here. And with Connely and Haynes here we can do it.’

  ‘Tim’, Jude said softly. ‘I think Foster is right. We don’t know if he is armed or not. And if he is, he might kill the hostages before we can even get to him. What has he got to lose?’

  Williams pointed his gun at Stefanie while Tracey took care of the wound on Jakes knee. It looked like a superficial wound and not a lot of damage had been done. She was more worried about Stefanie who hadn’t taken her medication yet. Her daughter looked pale and exhausted. Her feet and legs were swollen and she breathed heavily. ‘My daughter needs her medication and something to eat’, she said turning to Williams. ‘She has a kidney problem.’ Although she was frightened, the words came out very confidently. Her eyes bored into his.

  ‘I don’t care’, Williams said.

  ‘That can very well be, and I’m not surprised at all. But whatever you did to find it necessary to take my whole family hostage, I know that you don’t want a death on your conscience.’

  He laughed out loud. ‘It’s obvious that you didn’t watch the news or read any newspapers lately. One more dead body won’t make any difference at all.’ He pointed his gun at Stefanie again.

  Tracey heard Jake behind her say: ‘Oh no, this can’t be true’. She didn’t know what he meant but kept looking at Williams. ‘I don’t care at all about what you did’, she said, ‘but my daughter needs her medication and some food.’ She felt a vein throb in her neck, her palms were damp. For a moment she saw a glimpse of compassion in William’s eyes but his words proved the contrary.

  ‘Bitch’, he shouted. ‘Your daughter doesn’t look sick at all, she is just pretending. I don’t fall for that.’ He swung his gun round. ‘You go back to your family in your little corner and keep that trap of yours shut.’

  He started to feel dizzy again. The room danced up and down. He needed some food but then he had to let her go into the kitchen. He couldn’t take that chance. She looked very combative and he was sure she would try something. Maybe he should have that pale daughter of hers fetch him some bread and milk, and maybe even a slice of meat. ‘Hey you, paleface’, he shouted his gun pointed at the girl. ‘Go to the kitchen and cook me a nice steak. And if you want to pull some tricks, remember I have your family hostage.’

  ‘Let me go instead’, Tracey said. ‘Steffie is too weak and she doesn’t even know where everything is.’

  He saw her looking at him, but his sight got blurry and all kinds of thoughts tumbled through his head. Maybe he should have left the state this morning when he had the chance. No, he was too weak, he wouldn’t have gotten very far. Did the police know what car he was driving? If that bitch had opened her mouth, they probably would. Dammit, how did everything turn out so wrong? He blinked and tried to concentrate again.

  ‘There are no steaks or hamburgers’, he heard a voice shouting from the kitchen. His heart jumped. He must have been out for a little while because he hadn’t seen her pass. Slowly he stood up, his gun pointed at the three people in the corner. He positioned himself in the kitchen door and leant against the doorpost.

  Tracey’s brain was doing overtime. On one side she wanted to keep him weak, on the other hand Steffie had to eat. If he didn’t have anything maybe they would be able to overpower him at some point. If Steffie didn’t eat she would fall into a coma. Then she considered pulling the kitchen curtains open a chink but he would surely notice that. ‘I have some eggs and bacon’, she said confidently. She looked at him with dark peering eyes. He nodded. ‘But I only prepare it if my daughter can have some too’, she added. Her heart pounded in her throat but she looked at him with confidence. He turned his head towards Jake and the children, then back to her. He nodded again.

  Connely and Haynes had arrived and all four of them now crouched in between the bushes.

  ‘Is there a way in somewhere?’ Connely whispered.

  ‘We have to wait for the suits’, Tim said sarcastically. ‘Dammit, what’s keeping them? Lost somewhere on the mountain no doubt.’ Jude looked at him sideways and brushed a strand of hair from her forehead. Suddenly Tim set of to the back in a half crouch. After what seemed an eternity he returned.

  ‘There is a door to the basement’, he said.

  ‘How do you know it’s the basement?’ Jude asked.

  ‘The door was unlocked and I went in. There is a stair leading to the kitchen with a small window in it.’

  ‘And, did you see anything?’, Connely asked.

  Just as he was about to answer they saw five man with bulletproof vests approaching them from behind the Chevy. One of them was holding a megaphone. ‘Jameson, FBI’, megaphone man introduced himself. ‘How is the situation inside?’

  ‘Sackley and McCool’, Tim answered, pointing at Jude. ‘Four hostages and one serial killer’, he said shortly.

  ‘Is there a way to get in without being seen?

  Tim shrugged his shoulders. ‘There is a door at the back, leading to the kitchen. In the kitchen door is a small window but with a very limited view.’

  Jameson signaled one of his teams to go round to the rear. The other team he positioned next to the front door. Jameson clearly was the negotiator. ‘Do you know if he’s armed?’

  ‘Since we’re here, and that’s almost two hours now’, he said ostentatiously looking at his watch, ‘we didn’t hear any gunshots, but he could have a knife of course.’

  ‘Listen Sackley, by the tone of your voice it’s clear that the FBI is not number one on your favorites list, but this is neither the time nor the place for ego-tripping. My only aim is to get these people out of there in one piece and to get my hands on that son of a bitch. I don’t feel like propping up your hurt ego right now.’ Jameson put out his hand to Tim and he shook it reluctantly. ‘Nice to meet you Sackley. Can you bring me up to date now?’

  ‘The murderer is Dean Williams, 25 years old, unmarried. As far as we know he has tortured and killed three women. The fourth one escaped last night or this morning.’

  ‘And the motive for the killings? Mentally disturbed or is there more behind it?’

  ‘According to me a serial killer is always mentally disturbed, no matter what the reason is, but he stabbed his mother to death when he was fourteen after being abused for a long time. He got out when he was eighteen.’

  ‘So his last victim escaped did she’, Jameson said. ‘We are probably dealing with a man here who is extremely frustrated at the moment.’

  ‘I think so. I think he must be very weakened by now. His last victim wounded him with a knife and there was a lot of blood in his basement. We also found dried blood in his van.’

  Jameson listened very attentively to what Tim had to say. ‘Is his last victim questioned already?’

  ‘No, she’s still in a coma.’

  ‘Good, the two of you position yourselves in between the trees at the back’, he said pointing at Connely and Haynes. ‘And put your mobiles on vibrate. Sackley and McCool, you come with me to the front so we can keep an eye on the window.’ By the looks of it Jameson was not the kind of guy who would take obstruction lightly. He was obviously used to ordering people around. He asked Tim for the phone number of the house and pushed the keys as Tim read them out to him. Everybody waited tensely. No answer. He waited a few more minutes and dialed the number again. Still no answer. He dialed another number and in a muted voice he said: ‘Ambulance and third team in front of the house, flashing lights but no siren.’ Jameson put the megaphone to his mouth when he saw the ambulance and the third team appear on the road. His words echoed in the silence of the wood.

  ‘Arnold Jameson, FBI here. Dean, I know that you are inside. Can you please pick up the phone so we can talk?’

  Suddenly they heard the shifting of a chair and the curt
ain on the front opened slightly. Jameson called the house again, still no answer. ‘Dean, as long as you don’t pick up that phone I don’t know what your demands are and I can’t do anything for you’, Jameson shouted through the megaphone. ‘I will call you again in a few minutes so you can think about this.’ Jameson’s voice sounded confident and calm. Five minutes later Jameson called the house again.

  ‘Thank you Dean. You are wise to want to talk to me. Can you tell me why you are holding the Hubbard’s hostage?’

  ‘I want to see who I’m talking to’, Williams said.

  ‘No problem. I will stand in front of the window.’

  Jameson got up and walked to the window. It was still raining and by now it was pitch dark. The curtains opened again and this time they saw a pale face and a head covered with a bandage. The curtains were closed straight away.

  ‘What is that ambulance doing here?’

  ‘That’s only a formality Dean, just in case someone gets hurt. But I have to tell you that one of your hostages is very ill and she has to be taken to hospital right away. It’s the young girl.’ Jameson had no idea what William’s view on the hostages was, but he had give it a chance. He heard a snicker on the other side.

  ‘And how are you planning getting her into that ambulance?’

  ‘Listen Dean, I know what you did and why you fled, but the situation is serious now.’

  ‘If you know what I did you should also know that I think nothing of letting someone die you chuckle head.’

  Jameson didn’t seem impressed. ‘Steffie is really sick Dean and I doubt if you would want another victim. Let her go.’

  It went quiet on the other side, but in the background he heard the soft crying of a young boy. Then an angry voice: ‘Shut up or I shoot your mother.’

  Williams was very nervous. That made him dangerous and unpredictable. It was clear now he had a gun too. ‘Help us’, a woman’s voice shouted. Jameson was startled by the loud beep that indicated he was disconnected. He waited and didn’t call again. Minutes went by, fifteen minutes, half an hour without anything happening, till all off a sudden the front door opened and a young girl came stumbling out. As quickly as the front door had opened, it slammed shut again. One of the agents jumped out of his hiding place while a nurse ran towards the girl with a blanket. The child cried uncontrollably and her whole body shivered, but she let the nurse lead her to the ambulance. Jameson gestured that Tim and Jude had to follow the girl to the ambulance. On all fours they headed towards the road.