Twisted Reason (28 page)

 Lucinda shouted, “Don? Don Blankenship?” at the man on the ground.

He nodded.

“Hands on top of your head.”

He complied and Lucinda stepped behind, grabbing one arm at a time, pulling it down and snapping on handcuffs. A loud crash made them both jerk in the direction of the center building where two deputies breeched the front door. Lucinda heard muffled shouting from inside. Then she heard a bullet sing as it passed her ear.

She grabbed the cuffs, jerked Don to his feet and dragged him behind the bench and forced him back onto the ground. Pinned in place, she boiled with anger. She pulled back on the cuffs, causing Don to yelp. “Who’s on the boat, Don?”

“The guests.”

“Who else, Don?” she said tugging again.

“My dad.”

“Gary Blankenship?”

“Yes.”

“How many hostages does your dad have?”

“They’re not hostages, they’re—”

“I don’t give a damn what you call them, Don. Your dad is shooting at us. He could shoot his passengers. I want to rescue those people before they end up dead.”

“I don’t want them to die. We rescued them so that their brains wouldn’t die.”

“Don’t want to hear it, Don. And we don’t want to shoot your father but we will if we have to.”

“No, don’t. He won’t kill those people.”

“Oh, really, Don. Did you know he killed your mother?”

“No, no, she left us.”

“No, she didn’t, Don. Where did he bury her body? You were ten years old. You must remember.”

“I can’t. I can’t.”

“Look,” she said pointing towards the center building where two uniformed officers emerged on either side of a handcuffed woman. “Is that your sister Donna?”

Don nodded and whimpered, “Yes.”

“We’ve already got Derek in custody.”

Don looked at her with wide eyes.

“Now. How are we going to get your dad off that boat without anyone dying?”

“Harvey won’t stop till he gets to the dock.”

“Harvey?”

“The mule. We trained him. We wanted to make sure if anyone hooked him up to the boat and took off, Harvey’d always bring them back safely.”

“Can your father make Harvey keep going?”

“Not from inside the boat. You have to actually grab the harness and pull on him to get him going again.”

“How can we get your dad off of that boat?”

“I can talk to him. Me and Donna can talk to him. We can get out on the dock when he pulls up. We can tell him to give up, the dream’s over.”

Lucinda knew it was a risky move but she also was aware that it would be near impossible to pick off Gary in a boat with a roof without injuring one of the other passengers. She radioed Hirschhorn. He agreed. With Gary’s attention on Lucinda’s hiding place, the deputy was able to make his way around the far side of the pond to where Donna was seated on another bench in front of the center building.

Looping his hand around her cuffs, he brought her to her feet and marched her towards the dock. “Blankenship,” he shouted at the boat. “Your son and daughter want to talk to you.”

That was Lucinda’s cue to rise up and come out of cover with Don. She led him to the dock. Arrayed around them, all the others aimed their weapons at the barge.

The boat was just a few yards away. Donna spoke first. “Dad, it’s hopeless. When Harvey stops, just step out and turn yourself in.”

There was no response from Gary. “Dad,” Don said. “They’ve got Derek. They know everything. Don’t make this any worse.”

Shots rang out again. Donna tumbled off the dock. Lucinda grabbed Don and rolled into the water on the opposite side, screaming, “Hold your fire!” before she sunk beneath the surface.

She popped up sputtering and pulled Don under the dock itself. Once he shook the water out of his eyes, he lunged toward the other side. She jerked him back in anger and then, she understood. Donna lay face down in the water, red tingeing the water around her. Lucinda pushed Don back, grabbed Donna’s foot and pulled her under cover. Flipping her over, she saw the injury: a bullet hole right through the temple on the left side of her head.

Lucinda shook her head at Don and pushed the body away. Trapped as she was beneath the wood planks, Lucinda couldn’t see much of the barge except for the underside of it as it cut through the water. She could hear the passengers, though. Quiet sobbing from some. Murmured words of comfort from others. One man said, “What? What? What?” over and over again.

She heard “Shut up,” snarled by an angry voice.

“What? What? Wha—” The voice cut off at the sound of a hard slap. A thump of what sounded like a body falling down. A wail ringing out. And then the angry voice hollering, “I have demands.”

With those words, the barge came to a stop at the dock. Lucinda peered out toward the shore. The mule stood stock still in his harness, staring straight ahead.

“Yah, yah, Harvey! Go! Giddyup!” Gary shouted from the barge.

Harvey’s ears twitched but he didn’t move.

“See,” Don said, “I told you he wouldn’t move.”

Lucinda heard a voice over a megaphone call out, “Gary Blankenship. You are surrounded. Come out now.”

“Come and get me,” Gary retorted and fired another shot.

“Send out your hostages, Blankenship. And then we can talk.”

“Talking’s never done a damn bit of good,” he answered, firing again.

“Da-a-a-a-a-a-ad!” Don screamed. “You killed Donna! You killed my sister! You killed her! Your daughter! You killed her!”

“You want to be next, boy?”

“I’ll show them where the bodies are, Dad!”

“Not if you’re dead, you won’t,” Gary said and fired into the wooden planks of the dock until his gun clicked dry. None of his shots landed on either of the hidden targets.

“Missed me, Dad!” Don shouted as Lucinda shook him in an attempt to keep him quiet.
Why couldn’t he pretend to be dead?
“Don’t egg him on,” she hissed at him.

Lucinda heard a quiet splash and saw a body in a wet suit glide past her underwater. It moved around to the far side of the boat.

Another bullet smacked into the dock above their heads. “I got a whole case of ammo, boy. I’ll shoot this dock to nothin’ if I have to.” Three more shots hit the wooden boards and zinged into the water. A loud grunt followed by sounds of a struggle. Feet banged the boards above her head.

Voices cried out sounding confused and terrified. An angry voice rent the air with a string of profanities. Someone sloshed into the water and peered under the dock. “You can come out now, Lieutenant.”

Hirschhorn reached under the dock to give her a hand. Lucinda took his hand and grabbed Don’s elbow to pull him along. They dripped on the shore line watching a sullen, cursing Gary Blankenship being led away, followed by twelve frightened senior citizens being escorted slowly up the dock.

Patrol cars poured down the drive as reinforcements arrived. A van painted with the state seal and marked as the property of the Virginia Department for Aging pulled to a stop. The doors opened and a team of eight social workers climbed out and walked straight to the senior citizens huddled by the side of a bungalow.

“Where’s the other one?” Lucinda asked. “There should be thirteen.”

“Old Fred wasn’t feeling too good,” Don said. “He went back to his room after supper to lie down – he’s in bungalow six.”

“Let’s go check on him.”

They trudged past the center building and knocked on the door marked “six.”

“Come in,” a shaky voice shouted.

Lucinda looked at Don. “You want to go get him?”

Don nodded.

“Don’t do anything stupid, okay?” Lucinda said unfastening his cuffs.

Don shook his head. He and Lucinda walked into the bungalow. She leaned against the wall beside the door. He approached the man in the bed. “Hi there, Mr. Fred,” Don said.

“Mr. Don?” Fred said.

“Yes, sir. It’s me. I know you’re not feeling too well but you really need to get up and get dressed. We gotta go for a ride.”

“A ride?” Fred said, a trace of excitement in his voice.

“Yes, sir. Here, let me help you get up,” Don said grasping the old man’s hand and putting his other arm around his shoulder. “Let’s put on that blue plaid shirt you like so much and those navy blue Dockers. You”ll look right spiffy.” Don helped him dress and combed his hair across his bald spot. “Now, sit down on the bed and I’ll put on your shoes.” He helped the old man ease onto the mattress, slid the shoes on his feet and tied them tight.

Lucinda shook her head. She couldn’t understand the total waste.
Don was so kind and gentle. They’d chew him up in prison. And Jumbo? Please God don’t let him die. Damn that Gary Blankenship. Damn him to hell.

Don led the old man to the social workers then turned his back to Lucinda with his hands behind him. She put the cuffs back on his wrists with a sigh.

Turning him over to a deputy, she watched as he was loaded into the back seat. The sun was gone now. She pulled out her flashlight to shine her path on the way to the center building. She flipped on the lights when she walked through the door. Display cases on the far wall were filled with dioramas of acorn people involved in various activities. A kitchen scene with an acorn lady wearing a skirt and apron as she worked in front of the stove, her acorn family seated at a table with teensy plates and forks in front of them. In another, an old-time wood log fort with buckskin-clad acorns stationed up on the walls, teensy rifles aimed outward and acorn Indians on foot or riding plastic horses ranged around the stockade outside.

There were many more little acorn scenes, but Lucinda turned away and walked over to a big white board labeled: Today’s Activities. Below the heading was a list:

7 AM: Breakfast – pancakes and sausage

10 AM: The Great Acorn Hunt – meet by the flagpole for a hike into the oak grove

Noon: Lunch – Lasagna and salad

4:30 PM: Early Supper Tonight! Pork chops, parsley potatoes and lima beans

5:30 PM: Sunset Cruise – meet at the dock for a fun-filled ride into the sunset.

She stared at the schedule shaking her head.
Unbelievable. The Blankenships are totally nuts. How could they possibly think they’d get away with this?

Her reverie was broken by the quiet squeak of an opening door. She turned and saw Chief Deputy Hirschhorn entering the room. “Hey, Lieutenant,” he said.

“Hey, Chief. Any word on Jumbo?”

“Nope. Not yet. He was talkin’ when they loaded him into the ambulance. That’s good news.”

“Yeah. If only I hadn’t gotten him involved in this mess.”

“He wanted to be involved in this mess, remember?”

“But he doesn’t chase down killers. That’s my job.”

“You gotta let that one go, Lieutenant.”

“Don’t know if I can.”

“You feelin’ guilty isn’t gonna help Jumbo one little bit.”

Lucinda shrugged. “What do you think of this place?”

“Little bit bizarre for me. Not quite my idea of a happy retirement home. I’m not sure if it all makes sense.”

“It doesn’t, Deputy. Not a bit of sense.”

“I’ve got guards posted by the gate and the state has a forensic team on the way. The state’s taking over now and they want you to go to headquarters and give them a statement.”

Lucinda sighed. “They always want something and, dammit, I want to get to the hospital to check on Jumbo.”

“That’s not all they want, Lieutenant. Apparently, Don Blankenship says he’ll sign away his right to attorney and tell the whole story if he can talk to you.”

Lucinda’s shoulders slumped. “It’s already been a long day, Deputy.”

“You can say that again. I’ll give you a call just as soon as I hear anythin’ ’bout Jumbo.”

“I’ll keep my cell on – no matter what I’m doing.”

“I’ve got a man waitin’ to give you a lift up to your car if you’re done here.”

“I guess I am – there’s just something bugging me. Something that feels undone.”

“Maybe Don will have the answers.”

“Maybe he will,” she shrugged.

Forty-One

Driving over to state police headquarters, Lucinda called Jake. She ran down the events of the afternoon. After Jake congratulated her on a job well done, she said, “Nonetheless, Captain Holland is still going to be pissed. I disobeyed a direct order.”

“What did you do?” Jake asked.

“He told me that because of the abductions, I needed to get the FBI involved and I needed to do it today. I never did call and there’s no sense to do it now.”

“Tell Holland you did call the FBI.”

“I can’t lie to my captain, Jake – especially not to cover my own butt.”

“Who do you think you’re talking to, Lucinda?”

“Oh. Right. You’re FBI. Hadn’t thought of that.”