Another Deception (22 page)

          The chartered boat Garrett had reserved for the day was most likely the most eloquent of all the island’s sailboats and he figured it cost a pretty penny. With as much money as Garrett had at his disposal, he knew the funding for the boat, and everything else on the island came from
Asa’s
coffers. The inheritance meant for him, now Garrett was enjoying. Thinking this, Jacks silently thanked God for sparing him from
Asa’s
grasp.
But
, for your grace Lord, there go I.

   
“Jacks!”

           Jacks moved to where Garrett could see him and waved.

    “Over here!”

          He could see that Garrett had released the rudder to one of his crew and was coming to where he was. The Garrett he knew was in evidence as he bragged about the workmanship of the rig. Jacks listened politely, inserting questions at various points to seem more interested. Truth was
,
he could not care less. The point of getting the man on the water was to bring Garrett’s personality forward as
Asa’s
took a back seat. It was beginning to look like Asa was always present and Garrett was the visitor.

          They talked about sailing in general and recalled some exceptional experiences they had shared,

    “Well Garrett, I must say the high life suits you well!”

          Garrett grinned smugly,

    “You think so?”

    “I do.”

    “All that I have you could have too, you do know that? Actually I owe all this to you.”

           A flicker in his eyes told Jacks that Asa was not going to take a back seat to Garrett.

    “No, Garrett, you always did know what you wanted out of life. It was your ambition that got you here.”

           The smugness was back.

    “You are right. I never could understand why you wanted to settle for so little. You made the grades that would have landed you next in line for the presidency, whereas I struggled just to pass the bar. Just shows that one can come from behind to win the race.”

   
“True, true.
You got it going on. I am interested in hearing more about what has been going on this last year with you, if you want to share.”

            They had ambled around to the front side of the boat where there were chairs placed where they could relax and catch the sunrays. Comfortable, Garrett laid back.

    “It has been the roller coaster ride of a lifetime Jacks. I have hobnobbed with people you only dream of meeting and man, the women!
My pick, any time night, or day.
That pinup you were always so crazy for?”

            Jacks sat up.

    “Get out of here! You met her?”

            The smirk on Garrett’s face made Jacks sick, but he grinned as big as he could.

    “Not only did I meet her, I kept her for a whole week before I tired of her.”

    “You do not mean…”

    “I mean exactly that and there is more, much more. My life has been one amazing one since you jumped ship, so to speak and I got to be captain!”

          As soon as he said that, he looked sorry and quickly added,

    “Well, you know when you turned down that senator’s
seat,
it did open up new doors for me.”

    “Glad I was so helpful.”

         Noticing the mood swing, Jacks backed off to give Garrett time to get back into his ego. Knowing how much Asa hated the water, he suggested,

    “Let’s jump in! Come on Garrett, last one in is the rotten egg!”

         It proved useless getting Garrett into the water as far as Jacks’ purposes went, but he definitely saw more of Garrett than Asa while they frolicked about, swimming with the dolphins. When they tired of the play, Asa was completely back in control.

          This irritated Jacks and he felt he was getting nowhere with the plan to rescue his mother. The day ended and so did Jacks determination to ingratiate himself to Garrett. He was tired of playing around and knew it was time to be straight up with the thing in control of Garrett.

          He desperately wanted to hear from Honey. Was she getting better or was his absence making her worse. If only he could hear word from her, perhaps he could concentrate better on finding out about his mother.

         The next morning he stayed in his room with a migraine or the pretense of having one. He had made up his mind that if he had to ‘get’ his memory back to confront Garrett, then it was time to remember his last year. Realizing the danger he was putting himself in, he prayed more.

27

   
I
t was getting harder for Frank to catch his victims alone. Security tripled on high profile personalities soon after his third victim. Now, after his fifth, they were wary of what
was being called
the elite serial killings. It did not deter him, but only challenged him more. He knew he could not take them all down, but he could make a small contribution to society by ridding the world of some of its scum. The last one he took out almost got him caught, so it had been a while, but there was a perfect opportunity coming up which he could not resist for the next one on his list was very intriguing and someone he actually knew. One he was looking forward to looking in the eyes as he snuffed the life from him.    

   He and Cranford had taken the calendar to Anna only to find out it was just that, a calendar with a pretty picture on the top. They left it with her to take back and turned their energy to other matters. There were more and more reports coming in about young girls disappearing and it looked as if this tied into their investigation of other activity in the area. Frank had his suspicions and shared them with Cranford.

   They were in their office going over details and strategies of the investigation and he asked Cranford if he thought the two might be connected. Cranford looked thoughtful for a minute before answering.

“You mean with the sacrificial rites going on in the city using innocent young children? Hell why not, you do or you would not have mentioned it. I am interested so share your thoughts on it and I will either agree or not.”

    Frank pulled up a chair close to where Cranford was sitting, so they could keep their voices low.

“First, let me tell you how much I appreciate you not saying anything to the captain about what I told you the other night.”

“I figure something that personal should stay private.”

“Well, thank you. It is not something I generally go around talking about…now about these girls that keep coming up missing and classified as run-a-ways. I have been doing a little side research, here look at these stats.”

     He handed a printout over to Cranford and taking it the older man scrutinized it and asked,

“What about it?”

“Not one of these girls is over the age of fourteen. I say the same people we are tracking are behind it. Here is my reasoning. Remember, I told you these people raise their sacrificial offerings sort of the way some raise cattle. What better way than take these young girls, impregnate them and after delivery traffic them underground to sell to the human slave market? They only take first-born, so after one delivery, they are finished, and off she goes. That way there is no mother around for things to get sticky down the road. We do know that sex slavery is big business so not only do they gain a very important sacrifice but they also make a killer profit!”

“Hmm, you just might have something. Keep working that angle, you are doing a good job, son.”

     Frank looked up at Cranford. No one had ever called him son before. He knew it
was meant
just in general, but for some reason Frank felt gratitude. Before it could show, he got up and walked over to the file cabinet. Feelings were not something he could afford to have.

     He found what he was looking for and for some reason thought about Jacks. Wondering aloud,

“Reckon Jacks has found our man yet?”

“Don’t know. The tail lost him and he could be anywhere. I did call the place Honey is recuperating at and talked to a friend of hers, Jean, and she told me they have not heard a word from him since leaving the hospital. Called the good pastor too and same there, nothing. You can bet he remembers everything and went after the big man, whoever he is, and where ever he is.”

     Frank took a long breath of air and deliberately slowly let it out so that it puffed his cheeks out.
Jacks was
definitely a renegade.

“Just pure luck that man is still living. Somebody wants him to stay alive mighty bad!”

“You are right. I do wish him luck though.”

“So do I, Cranford, so do
I
!”

     He knew one day he would have to answer for his own actions but he was willing to stand before God and take any punishment he deserved. If he saved only one little child it would be worth it. He looked at his watch just as the phone rang and as Cranford reached for it, he gave a hand signal, which meant, be back soon.

    Cranford finished the call and walked to the door, stopping to pick something up that Frank had dropped. He had thought to catch him before he got out of there but it was not important, so he went back to his desk and looked at the folded paper he was holding. Putting it in his jacket pocket, he decided he would quit for the day. He needed to go home and think on what he had just read.

28

    
J
acks met Garrett in the breakfast room the morning after the day at sea with determination. He planned to confront him about everything but when he sat down and started, he stopped when Garrett interrupted him.

“Save it Jacks. You really do not think that I am so gullible as to not know what you have been doing. I have been around a lot longer than you have and I can assure you that there is not much goes on that I am not privy to. Now, if the game is over and I do hope it is, let us get down to business, shall we?”

     Jacks fury knew no bounds but he concealed it well, as he nodded.

“You want your mother, Jacks?
Guess what?
You may have her.

“What is the catch?”

“If I give you her and spare the lives of those you love most in life, what is it worth to you?”

“I know you are not talking about money or valuables Garrett…
or
should I call you Asa?”  

   The man leaned back with a loud laugh.

“Call me what you will. I have many names.
One as good as the other.
I suppose though, in honor of this body, you should just continue calling me Garrett. After all, look at the price he paid.”

  
Again the evil laugh.

   Then he looked directly into Jacks eyes with his burning red and Jacks never stopped praying to himself causing the eyes to flash pure anger for they saw not the contents of Jacks mind. Undaunted though, he posed a bargain for Jacks to consider.

“Would you give me ten years of service for your mother?”

“I would not.”

“Would you give me eight years for your mother?”

“No, I would not.”

“Would you consider one year of service for your mother and all that you could possibly wish for in this life.”

“My time belongs neither to man nor you but to my Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.”

     With this, Jacks bowed his head low, expecting to die right then on the spot. Instead, after what seemed a long time, he looked up to discover Garrett gone. Looking all about him, he saw no sign of him. Leaving out of the room, he ran right into the woman that he had seen the first night he was there.

“Did you see where he went?”

     She was looking at him with large round eyes.