The Final Shortcut (33 page)

In the quiet of the office he was able to relax a bit, a brief respite before the hell that was to come. He sat and leaned back in the overstuffed chair, closing his eyes as he tried to gather his thoughts. There wasn’t much to go on, but he knew where to go. And even though he was anxious to finally get to the bottom of this case, he knew that rushing in was the easiest way to die. He pulled out his briefcase and retrieved a laptop computer. He always tried to record as much information as possible, even if it didn’t get into the official report. Sometimes his notes were long and jumbled but while writing he often found the unobvious answers. He entered the date and time and began typing only to stop after seven words. The wallet in his pocket came to mind again, the very thought made him cringe. He tried to envision what had happened, but he couldn’t get past the mental image of Junior peeling the skin off a corpse. He felt vulnerable and caught himself looking over his shoulder, twice. There was an overshadowing evil that followed this case and he was beginning to understand why. If this guy had skinned Fudd, it was logical to assume that the other victims had met a similar fate. Which could explain why none of the bodies had ever been found. His stomach knotted up again and he had to take a walk for some fresh air. When he reached for his handkerchief he remembered that it was wrapped around the wallet, so he left it and went to the restroom, quickly.

A sudden burst of voices filled the station with excitement. When Ramone re-entered the office he found Clyde at his desk. His left arm was bandaged and in a sling, and a fresh cigar in his mouth. Rosa and Ellen were talking to him at the same time and saying the same thing. But Clyde quickly took command of the conversation.

“I’m all right, I’m all right. It’s just a flesh wound, no broken bones. I’m not going to die just yet. And I‘ll go to the hospital right after this, I might be able to help.” He pulled deeply on his cigar and looked hard at Ramone as he came in the doorway. “You don’t look so good. You need a doctor? There’s one outside waiting for me.”

“No, I’ll be ok. Just a little unsettled.” Ramone put on his professional face again and pulled up a chair. “I need to talk to you…in private.” He looked around at the ladies and waited. Rosa grabbed Ellen’s arm and led her away closing the door behind her. Both men looked at each other. Ramone’s grimaced face gave away the sick feeling in his gut.

“Ok young man, what is it? I can tell there’s something eating at you. What did you find?” Clyde offered him a cigar and after a brief hesitation Ramone took it. He pulled the wallet out and unwrapped it, laying it in front of Clyde. It sat unmoved for nearly a minute until Clyde finally spoke. “Is that what it looks like?”

“I’ll have to have it tested but I’d bet a months pay that it is. I saw that tattoo on one of the guys in the rental car just about a week ago.” Clyde put his cigar down and raised a hand to his mouth, never taking his eyes off the wallet. He didn’t touch it. They only stared in silence. Outside his door there was more noise and a group of federal agents were ushered in.

“Agent Hitchcock? I’m Agent Taylor, Mike.” They shook hands as the rest of the crew filtered in. Rosa was right behind them pushing a trio of plastic lawn chairs.

“I’ve got a few more coming in a minute.” She excused herself and returned to her ringing phone.

Introductions were short, the five men and one woman quickly gathered around the desk. One at a time they all noticed the wallet on the table and one at a time they all fell silent. The female agent picked it up and examined it more closely.

“Where did you get this? Have you had this tested?” She looked briefly at Ramone and then back to the wallet. She, as were all the agents, was dressed casually. A pair of sweat pants and a tee shirt gave her the appearance of a teenager. Only five-foot three with long blonde hair, she could be the girl next door. But when she pulled out her glasses and her briefcase, the teenager turned into an investigator.

“It was in a display at the suspect’s leather shop. I was hoping you could look it over. Do you need a lab?” Ramone felt relieved with all the help and his stomach quieted at last.

“Nope. It’s human, the tattoo ink is faded like it is years old, and the texture of the skin is unmistakable.”

“Are you sure?” Clyde spoke up sheepishly. “I mean... Junior is quite talented with leather.” The tremor in his voice must have been terribly obvious to her because she answered him in a very tender manner.

“I’m afraid there’s no mistake, I’m sorry. I’m a forensic specialist. The faded look of this ink is the clincher. It wouldn’t fade like this unless it was on a living being, our body chemicals slowly break it down and absorb it.” She glanced around the table and saw all her cohorts in a collective state of shock. “This guy is really good, but very sick.”

Agent Wilkes pulled off her glasses and started typing on a laptop. “Human isn’t the easiest to work with, do you know who it belonged to?”

Ramone reached across the table for a light and stoked up the big cigar before speaking. “This was taken from a guy named Fudd, we don’t know much about him other than some drug trafficking. But he and his partner were definitely involved in a lot more. I had been tailing them after a double homicide. They disappeared a few days ago and their car was found in our suspect’s back yard.”

“If he made this in a few days…then he is really good.” Agent Wilkes only looked up from her laptop long enough to answer and quickly resumed typing.

“What lead you to him?” Another agent chimed, they were all aghast at what they were hearing.

“Some computer gear from one of the hijacked trucks that he bought at the flea market. I was only fishing for a lead and he came out blasting.” He took a slow pull off his cigar and looked across the table at Clyde. “This is Sheriff Clyde Stokes, unfortunately the suspect, Junior, is a lifelong friend. His mother is right outside….and she doesn’t know anything about this.” He pointed at the wallet and gave them all a glance they understood. This was going to be a grisly job, and most probably a bloody one. “I don’t know what else we’ll find, or what to expect from our boy. When we questioned him earlier he was behaving very erratically. He gave me the heebie jeebies when I locked eyes with him. If it hadn’t been for Clyde here I would have caught the bullet.”

“Does he have any special skills we should worry about?” Mike was checking his sidearm as he spoke.

“He is an avid hunter and an excellent shot as I understand it. Clyde can you tell us anything else?” Ramone sat back down, putting both elbows on his knees.

Clyde looked across the table at him wishing all this was a bad dream. “He is very good with many weapons, rifle, pistol, and the blade. And he can track anything. It’s going to be hard to find him back in the woods.” He glanced through the office glass. Ellen was still seated in the next room. She hadn’t moved since the others came in and her face spoke to him. A face he knew well and right know he could read her thoughts just as clearly as if she was talking to him. She knew Junior was guilty of a terrible crime. She knew that he had to hunt him down. She understood that it was what he had to do. In one look he felt assured that she was behind him, no matter how it turned out.

When he looked back at the officers he was able to continue with confidence. “He’s certainly hiding somewhere on his family property, on hundreds of acres of dense mountainous forest. We can be sure that he will be ready to put up a fight. I’ve never known him to back away from a disagreement.”

“Do you have any idea where we can start?” Mike chirped in with a hint of irritation.

“He’s got a hunting shack, but other than that…” Clyde’s voice trailed off and he shook his head.

“I have a starting spot, I followed his tracks to a dead-end road. The odd thing is that the road leading in was well maintained, but it had a really old blockage.” Ramone pushed back up to the table and looked across at Clyde.

“Where was this?” Clyde looked at him intently.

“I went straight in a ways and took the first right, the cut-off was a few hundred yards to the left. He looked at Clyde’s face hard and he could see the confusion.

“That’s right near his shack, he must have headed there.” Clyde pulled back from the table and winced as he moved his arm.

“I didn’t see any structure, all I saw was a dead-end into a mountain.” As Ramone looked around at his allies he began to wonder if there were enough.

“Could you show us where it’s at on a map?” Mike’s voice was even more anxious now.

“Well, a map isn’t going to tell you much because Junior has cut trails all through those hills. That dirt road is on the edge of his property and he maintains it. I’m not sure if it’s on a map.” Clyde could feel the wound throbbing and he flexed his fingers to test his wrist. A sudden pain made him grimace and he paused for a drink of water before continuing. “That’s all old coal mining country, ain’t never been any other development back there. And the mine roads changed over the years, it could get very treacherous.”

“Is there still a mine there?” Ramone peered at him intently. He was the only one not typing.

“No, they all closed forty years ago when the coal played out.”

“Do you think he could have found one and reopened it?” Ramone drummed his fingers on the table and puffed hard on his cigar.

“I don’t think so, he would have to have some heavy equipment…” Clyde stopped in mid sentence; a flood of thoughts filled is mind. Many times before Junior had done or said things that seemed odd, and he didn’t give it any thought. But now he was looking back across the years in a different light.

“You said he maintained that road. What with?”

“A backhoe….one he bought...bought at the flea market.” With that admission he stood up and walked to the window. Every agent but one stopped typing. “

Those items you pointed out at the restaurant, and many other things, all came from the flea market. Didn’t that seem a little unusual to you?” Ramone was starting to get a vivid picture of what had been going on.

“You’ve been there, it’s more like a wholesale auction at times, and you can get just about anything. I just accepted it, I guess I …I just believed him. I wanted to believe in him.” He sat back down, suddenly very tired. He had turned his back on the truth for many years. Ignored his better judgment and accepted plausibility. The way Junior told a tale made you believe him, he was an easy person to trust. And the thought of him flaying the skin off a man was something he couldn’t digest. “You don’t think he’s the hijacker, do you?”

Ramone looked hard at him and paused sensing his pain. Then he stood to address the room in a cold professional manner.

“This as all we know so far. He gave the Sheriff an item that traced back to a hijack. You got shot when we asked him about it, and we’ve got a wallet made of human skin. But my feeling is that he’s our man. His land would be a good place to hide the evidence, and the nearby flea market is a good alibi. Those guys that went missing weren’t boy scouts. I’d bet big money that they committed a double homicide a few days ago. And I don’t think just anybody could have taken them down. Our boy has a vicious streak that nobody’s ever seen. And I‘m sure we have to be extremely careful.” Pausing for effect he tried to act calm while inside he was very excited. “And one other thing. If he is the one then he’s been operating for nearly twenty years. He’s likely to be very confident. Which is even, more dangerous. He could have booby-trapped the whole mountain.”

While the agents talked among themselves Ramone and Clyde walked to the side of the room for a few hushed words. “You don’t have to come out there. You should take care of that arm.”

“No I want to come. If I don’t see it for myself I won’t ever believe it. He could just be the fence or something.” Clyde spoke out of impulse, the thought of it all made his chest feel very heavy. It never occurred to him how much Junior was a part of his life, never thought about how much he loved him until now. But even as he spoke he could feel that Ramone was right.

Ramone could see how weary Clyde was and he tried to get him to sit down but he refused. Shrugging him off he pointed his finger at on an old map on the wall. “Take a look at this, this is the road you were talking about.”

Ramone moved in closer and read the title off the bottom of the map. “Collier mining Co, mine number 43-47, 1948.”

“This was the main road to the first mine, does that look like the route you took?” Clyde showed his professional side as well as he motioned for the other agents to take a look.

“Yes it does, and the cut-off I saw lead right to this old mine here, number 43. Where did you get this map?” Ramone stepped back and let Agent Wilkes get a closer look.

“I ordered this when Junior was a boy. Him and his Dad were looking for the old mines after they bought the property. But Marty disappeared before the map arrived, so I just kept it.”

“Did they ever find any?”

“No…I don‘t think so.” Clyde scratched his head and took a ragged breath.

Ramone could hear the uncertainty in Clyde’s voice, but he chose not to mention it. Instead he mulled the facts over in his head and tried to come up with a plan of action. The longer they waited, the colder the trail got. Before he could call the agents to action Sarah Wilkes spoke. “Have you ever seen any of the mines?” She moved toward the map for a closer look.

“Long ago when I was a boy, my father took me out there, but that was the only time.”

“This map says that number 43 was a loading point for the coal. It must have been pretty good size.” She had a magnifying glass next to the map, scrutinizing every inch.

“Oh yeh, it was huge. Big enough to ….” Clyde stopped in mid sentence, his face turned white and he had to steady himself with the desk.

“What is it?” She turned to face Clyde, and so did most of the officers.

“The mine... it was big enough to drive a semi into.” He moved to his chair and flopped heavily down. The room fell quiet and all eyes were upon him. “I can’t explain why, but I feel that Ramone may be right. Something is very wrong here, and I’ve just been blind to it.” He looked through the glass into the outer office and found Ellen pressed against it. She knew, she had known for years. But it wasn’t until now that it became painfully obvious. As they looked into each other’s eyes they could almost read her thoughts. Her dreams had been a warning, if she had only spoken up sooner things might have be different. Down deep he had always felt something was odd about Junior. But he chose to subdue it. And now the situation had become disastrous. There was most certainly one person dead, and possibly many more. And with nearly a thousand acres to himself, Junior could have hidden just about anything in his hills.