The Rented Mule (40 page)

Kelly needed Brooke’s assistance to walk, and once outside Kelly started to shake uncontrollably. Brooke tried to comfort her and realized her own arm was injured as she tried to hold Kelly up. Kelly was so relieved to be free, but she was weak from several days of constant sedation, immobility, and lack of proper nourishment.

Brooke dialed 911 on the cell phone given to her by Cooper. She rapidly told the operator who she was, that she had Kelly Dixon with her, and that Mark Wright was holding her son hostage. The stunned operator had her repeat everything three times to make certain she understood. Brooke did her best to describe where she was, but she didn’t know exactly. Unfortunately, Coosa County had not installed enhanced 911, so the operator asked Brooke to stay on the line so that they could triangulate her location. “It’s going to take a few minutes,” the operator explained.

Brooke leaned Kelly against the car and searched the inside for keys. They weren’t anywhere she looked. Brooke wondered if they were inside the house, maybe lying on the kitchen table. She turned her attention to Kelly and saw her eyes rolling back in her head.

“Hurry, please! I think she’s goin’ into shock,” Brooke screamed into the cell phone.

“Make sure she’s warm, wrap her in a blanket. We’re doing the best we can, ma’am. I promise,” the operator responded professionally.

Brooke tossed the phone down and grabbed Kelly, wrapping her arms around her. “Kelly! Kelly! Hang on now, you’re safe. Please stay with me. I’m gonna get you a blanket. You gotta stay warm.”

“He came for me,” she mumbled.

“What? What didja say?” Brooke frantically asked.

“Cooper came and rescued me. He said he loves me.”

Brooke was being inundated with conflicting emotions. Grayson was in Mark’s evil hands; Cooper was in grave danger too; and the wife of the man she desired was deliriously talking about him and clearly moved by his efforts to find her. Even in Brooke’s fragmented mental state, she could tell that this woman was not the Kelly that Cooper described. Brooke believed that the events of the past several days had changed everything, and the events of tonight would cement the directions of everyone’s lives—that was the only certainty in her world. Since Cooper was protecting Grayson, she needed to help and comfort Kelly.

“He does. He loves you very much,” she said rubbing Kelly’s head.

“How do you know Cooper so well?” Kelly asked in a weak voice.

“I do design work for his agency.”

“I didn’t think he would come for me. I didn’t think he loved me anymore.”

“He does. He loves you and your kids very much.”

“I’ve made a mess of my marriage,” Kelly cried.

“Marriage is tough, I know. I’ve had the worst one imaginable.”

“I wanna have our love back. I miss Cooper.”

“Kelly, you will. You’ll have your marriage back. Just hang on. The sheriff’s trying to locate us,” Brooke replied, letting out a deep breath. Kelly’s words about Cooper were difficult to hear. She continued, “Cooper’s been going crazy this week with worry… I know he misses you terribly. Do you hear me? It’s true, I promise.” She wiped a tear from Kelly’s face, “Listen to me. Cooper loves you. I can tell. You
can
have your love back. I’m gonna sneak back in the house and see if I can find a blanket. Please, stay right here. Okay?”

Kelly nodded and with tears in her eyes worriedly looked up at Brooke. Brooke watched Kelly’s faint attempt at a smile. Brooke let out a deep sigh and then put the phone to her ear and asked, “Have you found us yet?!”

“Yes, ma’am. We’re dispatchin’ all of our deputies and the sheriff. We’ve notified the Montgomery Police Department and volunteers from the fire department are en route. Get in a safe place, and stay put!”

“Please hurry!” Brooke exclaimed. She glanced at Kelly, threw the phone onto the hood of the car, and then ran as fast as she could toward the old mansion to find a blanket.
Please God, please bring Grayson and Cooper out alive. Please!
She prayed.

As Brooke entered the front door, there was a loud explosion, shaking the house. The old mansion rumbled in response, pictures fell from the walls. Brooke fell to the floor. She couldn’t imagine what had just happened. She stood and then raced toward the kitchen and into a billowing cloud of red Coosa County dust.

D
etective Obermeyer and his commander led two patrol units into the yard of Millie and Haywood Brown. The last unit pulled immediately to the back of the house as planned. The tension among law enforcement over the last few days had reached a crescendo.

With skill and precision they surrounded the house, and the commander, who rarely left the comfort of her office, led the charge to the front door. Obermeyer lived for these moments, while hoping his bowels didn’t cause problems. The police had not expected a pissed-off dog, which went into a barking rage, alerting everyone inside that something urgent was happening. The porch light suddenly illuminated the front yard, and Millie Brown cracked open her front door to see two well-dressed people trying to talk the toothy dog into calming down.

“What’s going on out there?” Millie hollered.

“Montgomery Police! We have reason to believe you may be hiding Cooper Dixon.”

“I ain’t got Cooper!” she answered incredulously.

The dog had taken her barking up a notch with Millie present.

“Ma’am, we have a search warrant and intend to come into your house and search the premises. Please call your dog off, before something bad happens,” the commander nervously yelled back, noticing a dead snake hung on the fence.

“Y’all’s welcome to come on in. You don’t need no papers. Sorry ’bout Rolex, she ain’t so welcomin’, but she ain’t gonna bite nobody less’n they try to hurt me.”

The officers slowly walked to the front porch. Millie threatened a swat at Rolex with her broom, “Hush, Rolex!”

In a whispered voice, the commander inquired of Obermeyer, “Rolex?”

“She’s a watchdog,” he replied with a smile, while studying Millie Brown.

“Oh. Okay. What’s with the dead snake?” the commander quietly asked Obermeyer.

“I’s killed it yesterday. If’n you hang one up likes that, it’ll rain in three days. We needs the rain, ma’am,” Millie explained. Both officers were surprised that she had heard their whispered words.

“Okaaaay,” the commander responded as she passed the snake carcass.

“You officers come on in.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” they said in unison, holstering their weapons.

“I do needs to see your badges first, I reckon,” she said with a serious look.

Obermeyer had his out first, and she studied it until satisfied. The commander then handed over her shield for inspection. Again Millie studied it for authenticity.

“Ummhunh. Y’all come on in. Excuse my ironing board. Gettin’ ready for church on Sunday,” Millie explained,
discreetly sliding a small object into her apron pocket.

The detective and the commander both noticed.

“Ma’am, I need to see whatever it was that you just put in your pocket,” the commander stated, suspiciously.

Embarrassed, Millie reached in and pulled out a small silver can. She held it in her hand for the police to see. “Dat’s just my snuff. I’s embarrassed for y’all to see it,” she answered bashfully.

Millie’s simple demeanor and willingness to cooperate relaxed both the detective and the commander. They both noticed an older man rise from his chair as they entered the room.

“This here’s my husband, Haywood. He’s watching teevee. Don’t move much on Friday evenin’s.”

Both officers took steps forward and shook Haywood’s hand. He was quiet and seemed more interested in the television than the police officers.

“Evening, it’s nice to meet you,” the commander offered.

Haywood nodded and remained standing though clearly wanting to sit back down.

Obermeyer noticed Haywood Brown’s Coca-Cola bottle next to where he had been sitting.

“You like those small Cokes?”

“I do,” Mr. Brown answered curtly.

“It looks different. Is that Spanish on the bottle?”

Mr. Brown looked at the bottle, and then at Millie, and finally to the detective. “Um, well, yeah, I guess it is. I don’t know where she gets these.”

Obermeyer thought about the Coke bottle while the commander turned her attention to Millie Brown. “Mrs. Brown, we’re looking for Cooper Dixon, and we have reason to believe that he might be here.”

“Lord no, he ain’t here.”

“Has he been here or do you know where he is? We want to help him,” the commander explained.

“I don’t have no idea where he’s at,” she responded carefully so as not to lie but not offer too much truth either.

“Mrs. Brown, where were you late this afternoon?”

“I went to my friend’s house and got my hair did.”

“Where does she live?”

“She stays about a mile up the road.”

“Has Cooper been here or there today?” Obermeyer asked.

“Damn it!” Haywood yelled before Millie could answer.

“Haywood, we’s got company,” Millie scolded.

“Even I’s knew da answer to that puzzle,” he replied, without looking up.

“Ma’am, we need to look around. We believe Cooper is not here, but we can’t leave any stone unturned. I’m sure you understand,” the commander offered.

“Yes, ma’am, go ahead, but you ain’t gone find nothin’. Somebody’s settin’ that poor man up to look bad. I knows he ain’t done all that the TV folks says he has.”

“You’ve known Mr. Dixon a long time?” Obermeyer asked.

“All his life. Practically done raised that boy myself. I shelled many a pea with that child settin’ in my lap.”

“Ma’am, may I use your bathroom?” Obermeyer asked politely. The events of the day were having their usual effects on him.

“It’s right there,” Millie replied, pointing at a narrow door.

The commander instructed the patrol officers who had just entered the house to spread out and look through the house and barn. She sternly told them not to make a mess of anything. As soon as she finished completing her orders, her cell phone rang, and she answered quickly. Her eyes widened
and her gaze met Obermeyer’s before he shut the bathroom door. With several nods of her head, she confirmed her understanding and slapped the phone shut. She said, “That’s it. Emergency Response monitors have a personal locater beacon with Cooper’s name coded into it going off in Coosa County!”

“Coosa County! That’s where Cooper’s hunting property’s located! Stand by!” the detective said excitedly.

“We also just got a call from the Coosa County sheriff’s department saying they just received a 911 from a woman claiming she just escaped from a cellar with Kelly Dixon! She also said that a Mark Wright is in the house holding a boy hostage and that Cooper’s trying to rescue him!”

“Mark Wright!” Obermeyer exclaimed, quickly walking away from the bathroom. Obermeyer wanted to think and not react.

“That’s what they said, and that’s all I know.”

“Holy shit!” Obermeyer exclaimed and then remembering Millie, said, “Sorry, ma’am.”

“Das all right, young man. We’ve heard worse,” Millie replied.

“Commander, we need to roll.”

“We are, but hang on, slow down. Stand by!” she said with a twinkle in her eye.

The commander looked at Millie Brown and then around her house. She said, “Miz Brown, I’m gonna have two officers stay here in case this is a trick.”

Turning to Obermeyer, she said, “You and I take separate cars. I’ll relay details by radio as I learn ’em. Let’s go!”

As they quickly left the house, Rolex broke into another tirade and chased the commander all the way to her vehicle. She hurriedly shut the door and sprayed gravel as she pulled to the edge of the road, waiting on Obermeyer.

Obermeyer jogged to his cruiser. He yelled and waved
for the uniforms to follow him. As he was buckling his seat belt, the passenger door flew open, and Millie Brown sat down and began pulling on her seat belt.

“Whoa! What do you think you’re doing?”

“Comin’ wit you.”

“No, ma’am, you can’t.”

“Now you listen here, young man, if this has got anythin’ to do with Cooper bein’ in Coosa County, I’m goin’, and I’m riding wit you,” she stated emphatically, clicking the seat-belt buckle.

“What’s that?” he replied, pointing to her lap.

“My iron. I’s takin’ it for protection.”

T
he loud explosion confused Cooper, and initially he feared that Mark had doubled back somehow and left him in the cave alone, blowing the exit tunnel shut, entombing him. But after a moment he could faintly hear Grayson crying. He didn’t think Mark would have abandoned the boy—he was his bait, his leverage. Cooper believed that Mark was still in the cave, near what he surmised to be the destroyed tunnel, and he intended to hunt Mark down before he seriously harmed Grayson.

With the cave in total darkness, Cooper knew that using a flashlight would betray his location, but he didn’t have a choice. Whenever he clicked the light off, he couldn’t see anything. He had never experienced such black. Above ground, even in the deepest, darkest woods at night, there was always some source of illumination. Here, he couldn’t see anything—not even his hand in front of his face.
At least Mark can’t either.

The silence after the near-deafening explosion, the darkness, and the enormity of the cave were suffocating Cooper’s
attempt to think clearly. He dropped to his knees, suddenly realizing he had his backpack with him. He took a deep breath, let it out slowly and started formulating a plan to rescue Grayson. By touch alone, he opened his pack and removed the steel traps. He wondered how to best use them.
If I could arm them, set ’em in that narrow part of the cave I came through, and then lure Mark to the area, he just might set one off. At that point, I click on my flashlight and shoot the bastard.

After a few moments’ consideration and not having a better idea come to mind, he quietly gathered up his gear and began feeling his way back toward the narrow passageway.

After moving only a few yards, Cooper heard the iconic warning buzz of a rattlesnake’s tail. A cold chill shot down his spine, and in that split second, a wave of perspiration covered his body. The sound bouncing off the cave walls made pinpointing its location impossible. Cooper was shaking as he tried to locate the increasingly intense sound, finally deciding that the snake must be ahead of him or it would have already struck. He squatted to make himself as small of a target as possible, in case Mark was nearby, and then he clicked on his flashlight to search for the snake.