by BJ Bourg
She grinned and pushed off the ground. Snatching up her camera, she photographed what we had done so far and we then went back to digging through the next layer, and then the next, recording each step of our progress. We were careful not to stab too hard with the shovels, because we didn’t want to damage the body.
When we had dug about four feet into the ground, I stabbed my shovel into the mud and made contact with something hard. We hadn’t hit a root in a while and I knew it could only be one thing…bone.
CHAPTER 30
“I’ve got something,” I called to Dawn, who was working the opposite side of the hole. Kevin had quit digging about fifteen minutes earlier and was lying on the cool ground under the shade of the ancient oak. Stella was seated beside him rubbing her brow with a handkerchief she kept in her back pocket. I caught movement from their direction and saw Kevin’s head pop up and Stella jump to their feet. They hurried to the hole and gathered around.
Dawn retrieved some latex gloves from her bag and handed me a pair. After pulling it on, I dropped to my knees and began clawing at the ground with my fingers. Dawn joined me and began doing the same, her head inches from mine in the cramped hole. As we removed one handful of dirt at a time, a dark and tattered blanket began to materialize. As we revealed more of the fabric, we backed away to allow room to work, careful not to rip the blanket or disturb the body wrapped inside.
I glanced up when we had fully exposed the blanket and noticed Cade was still sitting under the tree.
“You were right,” I called to him. “This is it.”
He only nodded, refusing to look in our direction. He was clearly bothered by the exhumation and I was glad to see it.
After Dawn finished shooting a bunch of pictures, she broke out her measuring tape and I helped her record the dimensions of the hole and the location of the body as it related to the giant oak tree. Once that was all done, she looked at me and nodded. “Let’s make the introductions.”
She slid back into the hole near the victim’s feet and I slid in on the side nearest the head. The blanket was rotted and fragile, so we carefully grabbed the edges and pulled it away from the body. It was overlapped, so we rested the top side against the wall of the hole and reached for the inside flap. It felt brittle under my fingers and it began to rip as I tried to pull on it.
“It’s stuck to the body,” I said.
Dawn nodded. “My side, too.”
Leaning close, I gingerly stuck my fingers between the fabric and the body and tried to work the blanket free. A thick and musky smell rose up to meet my nostrils and I grunted as I recognized the familiar scent of a body long laid to rest. I’d experienced that smell several times in the past during official exhumations and it was one to remember. While not as shocking to the senses as a freshly rotting corpse, it was dark and foreboding, as though hell waited directly around the corner.
Dawn had worked her side free and we both pulled the inner layer back in unison, laying it to rest on the opposite wall of mud.
“I don’t recognize him,” Dawn said, pointing to his exposed skull. Most of the flesh had long since fallen from the bone, but there remained a few strips of leathery skin and a thick patch of white hair. She suddenly leaned closer. “Wow, look at that.”
She pointed to his skull, which was missing a round chunk of bone about the size of a half dollar. The area around the injury was shattered, branching out from the hole like a spider’s web.
“It looks like he was hit with a hammer,” I said. “His jaw’s also broken. Shit, we won’t even need an autopsy—his body’s already opened up for us to examine it.”
Dawn nodded and began taking pictures of the injuries and then the rest of the body. The man wore a thick flannel shirt. While it was dry rotted, it had been mostly preserved by the blanket and I could make out the red and blue plaid pattern nicely, except for the area that had been turned black from the blood.
He was a short man, probably about five-four, and his shirt was small. His jeans were still intact and were also small. The hems were worn away as though they had been too long for him. Leather cowboy boots covered his feet and they were a man’s size seven.
“What kind of skin is that?” Dawn asked.
I shrugged. “It looks like snake skin, but I’m far from an expert in boot patterns.”
I stepped back so Dawn could shoot a different angle and felt a cool breeze caress my face. I turned and tested the wind with my nose. It smelled like rain. “We need to hurry and get him out of here. The sky is about to come down.”
I walked toward the oak tree, where Kevin and Stella were waiting with Cade, and removed a body bag from my rucksack. I looked over at them. Their faces were pale. “Care to help?” I asked. “Four sets of hands are better than two.”
“Nah, I’m good.” Kevin rubbed his back. “I think I slipped a disc swinging that shovel.”
I didn’t bother telling him it was impossible to slip a disc.
“I’m spent,” Stella said, grabbing at the front of her uniform shirt. “I think I’m about to have heart failure.”
I grinned and walked away, tossed the body bag next to the grave. It took about ten minutes for Dawn to finish documenting the body, and the wind was already kicking up pretty good. We could feel the moisture in the air now.
Dawn stretched out the body bag. “We need to get him in here before the rain comes and washes any evidence off of his body.”
I helped her situate it parallel to the old man and I pulled the zipper open. After wrapping him in the blanket again, we carefully slipped our hands under him and lifted him from the hole.
“Damn, we could’ve used a child-size bag,” Dawn said when he was zipped up.
“He’s literally a bag of bones.” I grabbed both straps and lifted him from the ground. “Hell, he can’t weigh more than fifty pounds.”
I walked the bag over to the tree and placed him near the trunk, where he would be out of the weather. I surveyed the sky. Although the sun hadn’t disappeared yet, the black clouds made it seem later than it was.
I shook my head. “We’re not going to make it out of here before the rain hits. I think we’ll have to hunker down until the storm passes and keep the body bag as dry as possible.”
“What?” Cade twisted around to face me. “What if we get stuck out here all night? I’m not spending the night with that body!” He pointed to the Heavens, which were rumbling in anger. “The gods are pissed at you for disturbing the dead. We’re all going to die!”
“At least the grave is already dug.” I chuckled, but Cade was not amused.
“That’s not even a little bit funny.” He was thoughtful and began licking his lips. It looked like he had something on his mind.
“What is it? What do you want to say?”
“Am I going down for this?”
“We’ll have to wait and see how this all plays out.”
“Look, I know who beat the old man to death.”
My eyes narrowed. “You already told us Wilton did this. Was that a lie?”
“I told you I didn’t think Wilton had the balls to do the murder, but I know who did.”
“And how would you know that?”
“I’m not saying another word until you talk to the DA for me.”
“I already told you there will be no negotiations, no request for immunity, and no special deals.”
“I showed you I’m for real.” Cade nodded for emphasis. “Now, I want protection and I want immunity, or I won’t say another word.”
I studied his face for a long moment. Something told me he was being sincere. I finally sighed. “I’ll talk to the DA and see what they can do, but I want a name first.”
He shook his head. “Not until I get a deal…and I want it in writing.”
“And what will I get in return?”
“You’ll get the name of the boys who killed that old man, and they’re the same people who killed Wilton.”
CHAPTER 31
As rai
n drops started to trickle down through the leaves above and the thunder rumbled closer, I pulled two tarps from my survival bag. I handed one to Stella and instructed her to use it as a tent to keep her, Kevin, and Cade dry. “The three of y’all can fit under it if you get close enough. It’s either that or get wet.”
As though on cue, thunder clapped overhead and the skies opened up, dumping a torrent of rain onto the area. The large oak tree served as an umbrella of sorts, but it couldn’t keep all of the water away.
Stella grunted, but reluctantly took the tarp. “You’re getting next to Cade,” she told Kevin, who begrudgingly agreed. “And if there’s any hanky-panky, I’m going to pop a cap in somebody’s ass.”
I spread the second tarp over the body bag and secured the corners with logs I’d gathered from near the tree. I then returned to my rucksack to retrieve my poncho, handed it to Dawn. “You can have this.”
“It’s big enough for two.” She took my arm and pulled me close to her, and we both sank to the ground near the trunk of the tree, sliding under the poncho just as more rain poured through the branches. The temperature suddenly dropped and the wind began to pick up, causing the branches overhead to squeak as they rubbed against each other.
Huddling there beside Dawn, I got on my radio and called dispatch, letting them know we had located the body. “We’re stuck in a storm at the moment,” I said, “and I don’t know how long we’ll be out here. Let the jail know we’re code-4”—meaning everything was okay—“but there’s a chance we might not make it back tonight.”
Once that was done, I got on my cell phone and called Ben Baxter. He answered immediately.
“London, old boy, what’s going on?”
After explaining what had transpired up to that point, I asked him if he could pick up the body once the storm blew over.
“Hold on a minute while I check out the radar.” I could hear him moving around in the background and it sounded like he was typing on a keyboard. Finally, he returned to the phone. “Where are you again?”
“In the back of Ender’s Lane, just north of Dead Man’s Canal.”
He whistled. “Son, you’re in the middle of a tornado warning. You need to find shelter ASAP.”
I pushed my head out from under the poncho and took a look around. The light was dim, but it was easy to see that the tall weeds surrounding us were bent sideways under the force of the wind. We could make our way back into the forest, but we’d never see a tornado coming. At least out here we might have a running chance. “How long will it last?”
“It’s a slow burner. According to this, the warning won’t be lifted until three in the morning.” He took a breath and blew out forcefully. “Look, I can try to come out there and get y’all tonight, but it’ll be mighty risky.”
“We’ll be fine,” I said. “If you can meet us here at daybreak, that’ll be great. I’ll send the GPS coordinates as soon as I get a minute.”
“Be safe, my friend.”
Although I knew he couldn’t see me, I nodded and slid my thumb across the glass to end the call.
“What’s going on?” Dawn asked.
“We’re under a tornado warning,” I whispered, not wanting the others to hear the news. “And it’s going to last throughout the night.”
The thunder began clapping with more frequency and lightning struck all around us. I felt Dawn push even closer to me. “I’m not so sure about this,” she said. “I mean, I don’t mind bad weather…as long as I’m inside a building.”
“We’ll be fine.” While I said it with confidence, I’d seen firsthand what a tornado could do to a human body and it wasn’t pretty. I didn’t want Dawn or the others out in that weather, but there was nowhere else to go.
“If lightning strikes this tree, we’re all dead.” Dawn’s tone was sorrowful. “I worked that lightning strike fatality three months ago in Seasville. The lightning blew chunks of flesh out of that woman’s—”
“This is an ancient tree,” I said, interrupting her. “If it hasn’t been hit by lightning in all of these years, it never will.”
Just as the words left my mouth, a flash of light blinded us—even under the poncho—and thunder exploded in our ears. I heard a shrill scream from the other side of the tree, and I was sure it was Cade.
Dawn shuddered beside me and I asked if she was okay.
“I have to live long enough to see my mom before she dies.”
CHAPTER 32
Darkness fell fast, but the storm didn’t dissipate. Each time a violent gust of wind ripped through the area, I lifted my head from the poncho to survey our surroundings. I wasn’t sure why I did it, because even if I did see a tornado coming, there was nothing I could do about it except gather up the group and run in the opposite direction.
The only good thing about the wind was that it kept the mosquitoes at bay. The bad thing was that we had to clutch onto the corners of the poncho or it would fly away. Every now and then the wind would whip up a corner of the poncho and a blast of rain would shower us in its wet coolness. Each time it happened, Dawn tried to scoot closer to me.
“You’re warm,” she said after one of the times we got sprayed.
I couldn’t see her, but when she spoke I could smell the spearmint on her breath from the gum she was always chewing—it was something we had in common. Normally, she’d park the gum in a corner of her mouth, making it hard to tell she was even chewing a piece, but I could hear her jaw working and I knew she was nervous. I’d never seen her like this and I wanted to protect her.
“We’re going to be fine,” I said after she jerked in response to a nearby lightning strike.
“That’s what I keep telling myself, but I’m worried Karma’s going to screw me over for not visiting my mom sooner.” She sighed. “Wouldn’t that be a bitch?”
I was astutely aware that death was not opposed to showing up at the most inopportune time and it didn’t care about anyone’s plans, but I wasn’t about to agree with her. “You’re going to make it out of here and you’ll get to spend time with your mom—just wait and see.”
“God, I hope you’re right.”
Wanting to get her mind off of dying, I asked if she thought Wilton’s murder was related to the dead guy in the body bag.
“Beats the hell out of me,” she said. “He was definitely murdered. If we believe what Cade’s saying, Wilton had something to do with it.”
“Hey!” Cade called over the driving rain. “I heard my name.”
“Go to sleep,” I hollered, “or I’ll chain you to the dead guy.”
Stella told Cade to shut up and Kevin mumbled something I couldn’t understand. It sounded as though he woke up from a nap.
I started to open my mouth to talk more about Wilton’s case when Dawn shot straight up. “What the hell’s that noise?”
I cocked my head sideways, trying to hear over the soft pattering of rain on the plastic poncho. “What noise?”
As I listened, the water drops began falling harder and harder, until a hard object smashed against my head with a thud. More of the hard objects peppered us and realization quickly set in—it was hail!
“It sounds like a freight train.” Dawn then jumped to her feet, clawing at my arm to pull me up with her. “Holy shit…it’s a tornado!”
I shook free of the poncho and stood in the pouring rain beside Dawn, staring wildly about.
“Stella, Kevin, get your asses up!” I said. “A tornado’s coming!”
Lightning was striking with enough frequency that we could see our surroundings. While it came in disco flashes, we could still make out what was happening. Kevin jerked Cade to his feet and we all tried to get a bearing on the tornado.
“It’s coming from there.” Stella pointed toward Dead Man’s Canal. “I can hear the trees breaking.”
“Wait, just listen,” Dawn said. She stepped away from the tree and I followed close behind her, ready to wrap my arms around her if necessary. She suddenly turned toward the trail from
which we’d traveled earlier. Her mouth fell open and she just stared. I followed her gaze and sucked in a mouthful of air when a flash of lightning lit up the sky. For a brief second, I saw a dark funnel cloud about five hundred yards away. It was heading straight for us and was ripping whole trees from the ground and tossing them into the air like match sticks.
“Get the hell out of here!” I hollered, pushing Dawn toward Dead Man’s Canal. I then grabbed the straps on the body bag and ran backward with it, dragging it toward the grave we’d uncovered, knowing it would be the safest place for the old man’s body. Against my protest, Dawn had taken hold of the straps on the opposite side. Once we reached the hole, we shoved the body bag inside. I turned to Dawn. “Go! Get out of here!”
She hesitated. “What about Cade?”
“I’ve got him. Just get Stella and Kevin to the canal!” Still, she hesitated. I leaned forward and touched her wet face. “I’m right behind you…I promise!”
She spun around, but Stella and Kevin had already disappeared in the darkness, leaving us behind. Cade was hobbling after them, only able to move eight inches at a time. I ran up to him and grabbed him by the collar. Spinning him around, I bent forward and threw him over my shoulder. As I straightened and broke into a stumbling run, I felt intense pressure build up in the air around me and my ears popped.
The ground beneath my feet shook as the tornado barreled toward us. The roar was deafening. I could feel it breathing down my neck and I wanted to look back to see if it had changed course, but to do so might cause me to lose my balance. If I fell, Cade and I were both dead. If the tornado changed course and followed us, we were all dead. Our only chance was for it to keep going straight and for us to reach the safety of the canal before it sent trees flying in our direction.
Rain pelted my face as I ran through the tall weeds and I blinked the water away, straining to see through the downpour. I knew we had to be close to the canal, because I could no longer see Dawn against the intermittent flashes of lightning.