Hidden Justice

by J K Ellem

  Shaw stopped eating. “And?”

  “No one lived there so there were no deaths if that’s what you mean. However the actual island, everything including the original cabin on it is owned by the Ballard family, has been in their family for generations. The lighthouse was built and is maintained by the Coast Guard, like most of the lighthouses in the country.”

  “Are the cliffs around their mansion also owned by the family as well? Can we drive up there and take a look or is it private property?”

  “The road up there is public. We can drive, and there’s a path that runs along the clifftop to a lookout at the point that is owned by the National Park Service. And another thing…”

  Shaw waited for Annie to say more.

  “When I was up there, the other night, I went into the grounds of the mansion.”

  “As part of your midnight run?” Shaw sat back and folded his arms. “What does trespassing get you in these parts?”

  “I just wanted to see if anyone was around,” Annie replied defensively. “I told you about the light I had seen up there a few nights back, like someone was walking around the outside of the place. I just wanted to take a closer look.” Annie hesitated. “And I think someone is living up there, in their house, and the Ballard’s know nothing about it.”

  Shaw wiped his mouth and pushed the plate away. “Now I am interested. Let’s go and take a look.”

  Ambrose Taylor was inconsolable. He smoldered like a volcano about to erupt at any moment. Not only had Shaw interrupted what he was going to do to Abigail Brenner, he was also responsible for the twelve stitches across his skull that would leave an ugly scar which may not completely heal. “I want to kill him.”

  Teddy Hanson sat in his father’s study, behind a huge ornate desk, twirling a letter opener blade in his hand. The cleaning company had just finished going over the estate leaving it spotless. It was the same cleaning company he had used before. He always paid them cash and above market rates. It was the price you paid for discretion and zipped mouths.

  His parents were due to arrive in three days and he wanted no traces of his escapades. He had a crew of contractors also working on the damage to the cabana. Everything would be fixed, repaired and replaced.

  Like the others, Ambrose had told the police it was consensual, that Abby was a willing participant. They had released him pending further questioning. Teddy had worked his magic with his contacts in the police department.

  Teddy contemplated the three men in front of him, Ambrose Smith, Dylan Cobb and Dean Gymp, as they sat in plush leather high back armchairs opposite him. Gymp was told by the doctors that he would walk with a limp for a few weeks, but after that, he would be fine. Cobb had been at the party initially but for some reason had left early before the police arrived. Teddy had spoken to the three of them beforehand so their stories would line up. As far as anyone was concerned, Abigail Brenner willingly went to the cabana and was excited by the opportunity of group sex. Shaw had arrived and for no reason attacked Teddy’s guests in the privacy of his family’s estate. Shaw wasn’t invited so Teddy told the police he wanted Shaw charged with trespass, breaking and entering, and assault.

  The police weren’t going to be a problem. Nearly half the officers on the department’s payroll he knew personally. Teddy over the years had lavished them with lunches, dinners, exclusive tickets to the Giants at MetLife Stadium and trips out on his father’s deep sea fishing boat with plenty of naked female company as entertainment. He had them in his pocket. It was Shaw that was the problem.

  Teddy looked around the study. It was an homage to his father’s uselessness. He didn’t like his father much. He was a weak man with a weak head on his shoulders who had inherited his wealth. Teddy’s sister was no better, took her genes from his father. She was in Australia on vacation at some ranch in the outback. Flies and dust and heat. Good luck to her, Teddy thought. His mother had brains and balls, but she had traded them in for the wealth.

  Teddy had plans, big plans, and he wasn’t going to wait until he got his inheritance to bring them to fruition.

  Gymp’s irritating whine brought back Teddy from his thoughts. “So what do we do now, Teddy?” Gymp moaned like a sick whale.

  Teddy looked at him thoughtfully, the letter opener still twirling in his hand. It would be so easy just to lean across the desk and stab the little sex-starved prick in the head with it, cleave open his skull like a meaty, soggy piñata and see what’s inside. Teddy knew there would be nothing inside, just dumb emptiness. “Cobb, you totally took care of the girl?”

  Cobb just nodded. No words were needed. When Cobb did something, it was done, no questions, no traces.

  Teddy regarded the point of the letter opener like a surgeon would regard a scalpel. Finally, he spoke and his answer stunned everyone. “We do nothing.”

  Ambrose snarled, “We find that guy and bury him. I ain’t sitting here and doing nothing.”

  “Yeah, Teddy,” Gymp chimed in, “I can’t piss without it being painful. You have no idea, it’s like I’m pissing out razor blades. I want to find him and kick his ass. Repay what he did to me, to Ambrose.”

  Cobb understood. He gave Teddy a subtle shake of his head.

  “Listen, you idiots,” Teddy pointed the letter opener at both Ambrose and Gymp. “How do you think it would look if this Shaw character turns up with the shit kicked out of him? You don’t think the police will pay us a visit again?”

  Ambrose and Gymp exchanged looks.

  “That’s right,” Teddy continued seeing their expressions suddenly alter. “The police are already looking at us right now. I’ve got my guys in the department looking out for me but that will only go so far. Like I said, we do nothing.”

  Teddy placed the letter opener down, a plan forming in his head. He certainly had no intention of doing nothing. He just was going to do it quietly, alone, no traces. Just the way he liked it.

  25

  The inland road wound its way through a series of turns as it snaked up the hillside through a forest of spindly trees and patches of low scrub. Annie drove while Shaw sat in the passenger seat, the window down, his arm resting on the sill.

  With her brow furrowed in concentration, Annie navigated through the tight turns and twists. The road narrowed in places to just one lane with no shoulder to pull over to allow another car coming in the opposite direction to pass. But they saw no other cars.

  The sky was clear and sunny, a vast improvement to when Annie was last here the other night.

  Finally, the road flattened and they crested a ridge. The trees gave way to a panoramic view of the ocean and where the terrain abruptly ended at the ragged edge of the clifftop. A footpath ran along the cliff edge up towards a lookout right at the tip of the point.

  The Ballard mansion came into view ahead. It looked different during the day, less ominous, but it still gave Annie the shivers. She could see clearly now the high wall that surrounded the property with the rear wall ending just before the narrow footpath on the cliff edge.

  The main road swept past huge wrought iron front gates before continuing on and disappearing through a line of trees. They had driven up from the other side of the property compared to where Annie had emerged from the trail through the trees on the opposite side.

  Annie saw a rest area and parked the car before turning to Shaw. "So?" she said. "There's really nothing to see."

  They climbed out and regarded the Ballard mansion. He had insisted on coming up here to take a look. He promised Annie that they wouldn't stay long, just have a quick look around.

  The imposing driveway gates were locked and the windows along the front looked darkened, with the drapes drawn shut. There were no CCTV cameras, just a keypad on a post, similar to the one Shaw had seen at Abby's home. "The place does look closed up for the summer," Shaw said. He was tempted to just press the intercom button.

  They worked their way along the east side of the perimeter wall. When they reached the rear of the property,
Shaw could just hear the constant clicking of an automatic pool cleaner. But apart from that, there were no other sounds, no sign of activity, no sign of anyone. The place was eerily quiet.

  "So where's the gate you went through?"

  "It's on the other side. Come on, I'll show you."

  Minutes later they were both standing in front of the wrought iron side gate that Annie had used to gain entry into the courtyard beyond. But something was wrong.

  "What the hell?" Annie said in disbelief as she examined the gate. A heavy-set padlock had been attached through the latch cross bar, effectively preventing it from moving, locking the gate tight. "This wasn't here the other night." The padlock had been attached from the outside. She tried moving the heavy padlock but it didn't budge.

  “This looks like the only side gate.” Shaw said. They had seen no other gates so far. “Are you certain this is the gate?”

  "Of course I’m certain,” Annie replied impatiently. "This wasn't here. I swear." She looked down the length of the wall. She was certain this was the spot. Behind her she saw the tree line that she had emerged from in the darkness. "There's a trail just through those trees there," she pointed.

  Shaw followed her gaze.

  "I came up that way. The trail leads all the way up from the picnic area below that we passed."

  Annie glanced back at gate, retracing her steps in her mind. No, she was correct. She had followed a straight line out the trees to this exact spot. "There is no other gate," she said a little annoyed.

  Shaw looked at the padlock again. It was true. They hadn't seen another side gate when they walked the perimeter on the other side. Annie’s car was parked on the opposite side from where they now stood.

  "Someone was watching me," Annie said, "and put this here after I'd gone."

  "And you definitely didn't see anyone?" Shaw asked.

  "No, I'm certain."

  "But you had a flashlight — "

  Annie cut Shaw off, "Didn't use it, it was a clear night, the moon was bright."

  This meant that Annie would have been clearly visible, lit by the moon. Someone had seen her.

  "Well, it means either one of two things," Shaw offered. "Either they saw you enter through the gate and decided not to intervene unless you tried to break in to the house itself, like force a door or window."

  Abby turned to Shaw, "Or?"

  "Or, and this is the more likely scenario, someone was inside the house, using this side gate instead of the front entry and you just happened to be here while they were inside. They unlocked the padlock, took it with them, then placed it back on the gate after they had left."

  "After I had gone?"

  Shaw nodded. "They probably didn't know you were here. They were too busy inside. You slipped in without them knowing.”

  “But there were no lights on inside,” Annie replied. “The place was in complete darkness.”

  "Maybe it was just a security guard who patrols the property at night?" Shaw offered.

  On Friday night Annie had felt an uneasiness, just before the object appeared from what looked like the roof of the property and flew out over the ocean. She really believed at one point someone was watching her. Maybe they were inside, in the darkened house, behind the curtains, waiting and watching. But why? Why hadn't they just come out and confronted her? After all she was inside the grounds, she was trespassing.

  "You didn't see anyone at all?” Shaw asked.

  "No. Like I said, I just got the feeling I was being watched."

  Shaw looked around. The breeze rustled the leaves and the branches in the trees nearby.

  "And the sound you heard?" Shaw asked. "The thing you saw pass overhead?" Annie had already explained in detail on the drive up what she had seen.

  "I'm certain it flew out from the roof top, came from up there." Abby pointed at the peaks of the gabled roof.

  "Come on,” Shaw nudged her arm. “Let’s walk to the lookout. We’ll get a better view from up there. Maybe see where you think this object was heading."

  They followed a path along the cliff edge. There was a post and wire fence to stop anyone from accidentally tumbling over the edge but it seemed weak and it sagged in places. They reached a raised wooden platform with a wraparound rail that was perched right over the edge of the cliff, similar to viewing platforms in most national parks.

  The scenery was breathtaking. Moors Island with its lighthouse seemed so small when viewed from high up on the cliffs, and the vast ocean dominated everything else beyond it. There were no other landmarks, rocky outcrops or islands, just Moors Island and a container ship, a mere speck on the line of the horizon.

  "And this object you saw was definitely heading in the direction of the lighthouse?" Shaw asked.

  Annie looked behind her, raised her hand to shade her eyes from the glare. She traced an invisible line from the Ballard mansion out over the edge of the cliff, trying to imagine the direction the object had taken. But it was dark and she couldn't clearly see the object. She had relied purely on the whirling sound it had made as it passed overhead before it vanished into the night. "I'm not certain it was heading there exactly," Annie replied, doubt creeping into her voice. "But it was heading in that general direction."

  Shaw gazed out again at the vast expanse of ocean. He was certain it was a drone Annie had seen. But who was operating it and why?

  If it was a drone, then it could have gone anywhere. Some have a range of up to five miles if they have a powerful enough signal transmitter. Maybe the drone didn’t go out to sea. "Were there any other lights out at sea? Like a ship or a sailing boat with navigation lights on?" All vessels at sea were required to run navigation lights at night; a green starboard light, a red portside light and white stern and masthead lights. Even at anchor they had to display a white all round light so they could be seen in the darkness and avoid collision.

  "I don't know. I don't think so. I wasn't standing up here on the look-out. But fog was rolling in and I couldn't see anything else out there."

  "OK," Shaw said. "Let's head back."

  They made their way back to where Annie had parked her car. As they turned the corner of the wall, Shaw suddenly pulled Annie back.

  A man was standing at the driver's side window of her car, hands cupped against the glass, peering inside.

  Sensing someone was behind him the man turned and stared straight at Shaw and Annie.

  26

  "Can I help you?" the man asked. The man was young, thin, mid-twenties with sandy colored hair, narrow features and wore tradesmen clothes. Clipped to his belt was a bunch of keys.

  "We were just up at the lookout, enjoying the view," Shaw replied.

  The man walked away from Annie’s car. "That's fine. Don't usually get visitors up here."

  "I'm not a visitor, I live here in town," Annie replied.

  The man stopped a few feet away and smiled. "Funny, I haven't seen you around before."

  "I work at the library," Annie replied.

  The man's gaze settled on Shaw.

  Shaw could tell the man was sizing him up, trying to assess if he was a threat or not.

  The man then smiled and offered his hand. "I'm Steve, the caretaker around here." He indicated over his shoulder at the Ballard mansion with his thumb. "I look after this place while the owners are away."

  Shaw nodded. "Is it okay that we parked here? On this side?"

  The man shrugged, "Makes no difference to me. This area here and the path up to the lookout are not part of the estate.” He smiled at Annie, guessing it was her car. "Just make sure you don't park on the other side of the property or near the driveway. The Ballards don't take too kindly to people parking on their property."

  "I imagine they wouldn't," Shaw replied.

  Annie regarded the man coolly. She knew it was him who had padlocked the side gate. But he didn't seem to recognize her. Maybe he hadn't seen her last night, or if he had, he wasn't sure it was the same person standing in front of him now.
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br />   The man nodded at Shaw. “Thanks. You just can't be too careful these days, can you?" he said. "You don't know who could be wandering around here." He paused, then looked directly at Annie, "especially at night."

  There was an awkward pause.

  "Well, we'll keep going shall we?" Annie hurriedly said, turning to get in her car. She took out her car keys and walked past the caretaker, her face low and turned away from the man.

  "Thanks, again, we won't bother you any more," Shaw said.

  "No problem."

  Shaw caught up to Annie. "I'll drive," he whispered.

  As the car sped off, the caretaker watched them for a moment. Once Shaw and Annie had gone, he turned, walked back to the side gate making sure the padlock was securely in place before walking back inside the mansion through the front gate.

  Shaw braked suddenly and swerved.

  Annie braced herself as the car skidded to a halt, barely missing another car that was heading up the hillside road from the opposite direction. Shaw cursed as he looked through the windshield at the other driver, a man. They had almost come together where the road narrowed.

  The man in the other car climbed out. It was then Shaw noticed the uniform he was wearing.

  "Great," he muttered. Shaw turned to Annie, "Stay here," then he climbed out.

  "No way," Annie replied. "Prick nearly ran into my car."

  The other car was a patrol car from a local security company.

  "Hell, boy, you drive like a lunatic," the security guard said through his side window to Shaw. "Lucky, I didn't run into you."