Ollie slid to a stop. R.C. turned the corner behind him. By the time Ollie had radioed Martha to let her know where he was, R.C. pulled up and stopped.
Larson got so excited he forgot the details of his concocted story and simply held up the bag, proudly exclaiming, “Look what I-I mean, Shug found!”
“He found a bag of hamburgers?” R.C. chirped.
“No. He found a gun, I mean a pistol, and it’s been fired!”
“He found a gun in a Burger King bag?” Ollie asked.
“No.” Larson was growing aggravated. He simply pointed in the general direction of where the gun had been found. Larson was pointing at the grass. Ollie thought he was pointing at the camp house.
“Larson, this is a hunting lodge, so please tell me he didn’t find the gun in the camp’s gun cabinet!”
“No, no, no. We found it in the grass over there!” he said emphatically.
Larson removed the massive pistol and held it up for everyone to see. He stuck his pen through the trigger guard to preserve any fingerprints that Shug hadn’t licked off.
“Wow!” Ollie exclaimed.
Larson’s chest swelled with pride. “And it’s been fired recently,” he crowed.
Ollie bent over to smell the muzzle, then nodded in agreement.
R.C. leaned in and said, “Smells like a Whopper to me.”
Larson ignored him.
“Good job, Larson. That dog’s finally done somethin’,” Ollie said.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good job,” R.C. said sarcastically.
“This could be a big break. I need you to focus, R.C.,” Ollie stated.
“Sorry,” R.C. said as looked again at the pistol.
“So what do you make of all this, Ollie? Is what happened at that gate related to this gun and the events around here?” R.C. asked waving his arms around the yard of the camp.
“I don’t know…I’m havin’ a hard time connecting the dots. Normally, I’d say they were coincidences…but now…We just don’t know what happened here.”
Ollie carefully took the pistol from Larson and opened the cylinder. He was taking a chance that he might destroy fingerprints, but he had to know. Sure enough, a dent in the primer. Easing the cylinder back shut, he let out a deep breath and said, “That’s it. I’m calling in reinforcements. We have to find that girl.”
R.C. and Larson nodded in agreement.
“Larson, do you know where Johnny Lee Grover stays?” Ollie saw him slowly nod after thinking for a second. “Go by his trailer and see if he’s there. No accusations. I just wanna know his whereabouts. Go!” Ollie commanded.
“Yes sir!” He ran and jumped into his car.
“R.C., you know what happened last time I called in the big boys. But I don’t see any other choice; do you?”
“No, Chief. I support you a hundred percent…for whatever that’s worth.”
“I think we’ll use this camp as our temporary command post.”
They saw Larson slam on the brakes after he had traveled about twenty-five yards down the road at a high rate of speed. He jumped out; ran around to the passenger’s side; unhooked an exhausted, very confused German shepherd; and loaded him in the backseat. Larson acted like nothing had happened. He never looked at them.
R.C. and Ollie turned to each other and laughed.
“I’ll start making some calls,” Ollie said, walking to his vehicle.
“Yes sir, Chief. I’ll call in the serial number on this pistol to see who owns it.”
The more Ethan “Moon Pie” Daniels thought about his girlfriend being on the Net, the more pissed he became. He couldn’t trust Sheree, but he couldn’t live without her either. Whatever she did, whomever she did, he always took her back.
He drove carefully through Aliceville and all the way down Alabama Highway 17. Constant whimpers and sobs were coming from the back, but Moon Pie paid no attention. Moon Pie was as cold as ice when needed, and he never experienced remorse. This combination made him capable of anything.
Moon Pie thought about a new drug he’d just heard about called Ketaset. It was used to tranquilize bears. This fascinated him. Supposedly, it could fully paralyze an adult bear while allowing it to see and hear everything going on around it. Biologists used it to “haze” bears that had become bold around people. Historically, brazen bears had been destroyed, but this new drug and hazing technique were working wonderfully. Biologists basically beat up the drugged bear, terrifying it of humans. Moon Pie wanted some of that drug. He smiled, imagining what he would do to his girlfriend’s computer lovers while they were helplessly paralyzed, watching. I wish I had some right now. I’d try it on that whiny chick in the back. I’m gettin’ me some Ketaset as soon as I’m done with this little project.
Moon Pie had a good idea of what was going to happen to his little gem in the back. He hoped he could have some fun, too. But Reese was calling the shots, and Moon Pie would do or not do whatever he said. He couldn’t believe Johnny Lee had been killed-that really threatened some of his plans. He and Johnny were about to start running drugs on the Tombigbee River, up from Mobile, Alabama, into northern Mississippi and Alabama, and on into Tennessee. Their elaborate scheme had taken months to devise. Johnny Lee had the balls to make the deliveries. Moon Pie had the customers. Johnny Lee’s death was going to change everything, but he also knew that Reese would step into Johnny Lee’s shoes, and he’d want to try to keep the project alive. Moon Pie stood to make a lot of money, and he couldn’t do it alone. He was highly motivated to stay in Reese’s good graces.
Moon Pie drove straight to Johnny Lee’s trailer. He backed up to the front door, then got out to have a look around before unloading his cargo. He walked to the edge of the yard and peed on a set of old tires that had been there for years. Moon Pie lit a cigarette and decided to take a look at the woman. She was curled into a tight ball, and he could see the fear in her eyes. He ran his hands up her bare legs, commenting that they needed shaving. That don’t really bother me none. She tried to scream. He took a deep drag from his cigarette and blew the smoke in her face. Their eyes locked. He waited until she looked away before moving. Stepping back, he shut the doors and went to see if the trailer key was where it was supposed to be.
Moon Pie let himself in. When he turned on the lights, two roaches ran for cover. There were empty pizza boxes and beer cans everywhere. The ashtrays were full. There was barely room to walk around because of the trash. The kitchen was even worse. It appeared to have been months since the dishes had been washed. Down the hallway, he found a small bedroom with enough room to lay the woman on the floor. He left the light on and went to get her. On the way out, he counted a dozen empty Crown Royal bottles and chuckled. “Johnny always had good taste.”
“Whew!” he said aloud when he stepped outside. “That place is rank.”
Moon Pie carried the woman inside. She was shaking uncontrollably as he set her down on the floor. He considered off cutting her shirt but decided to wait. He squatted down and looked her in the eyes again. He smiled at her and made a kissing motion as he rose to leave. He turned out the lights.
“I’ll be back with a few of my friends. We’re gonna have us a little party,” he said softly, laughed, and shut the door.
The room was pitch-black. Her hands and ankles were bound, her mouth taped shut. The more she cried, the harder it was to breathe. She knew she was going to be gang-raped. She lost it. Urine trickled onto the dirty brown carpet as she wept.
“How y’all doin’?” Jake softly asked Katy and Elizabeth.
They weren’t making as much progress as Jake had hoped. Katy was getting heavier with each step, and the going was slow through the hardwood bottoms. Even so, Elizabeth was having difficulty keeping up.
Jake was impressed with her mental fortitude. She saw her boyfriend severely beaten, successfully eluded a violent attacker for miles, and at the moment she was about to be raped, her attacker was shot in the head. Certainly a tough night for anyone, much less an eighteen-year-old girl.
Katy was glad to have Elizabeth along. Although she noticed that Elizabeth was wearing her dad’s shirt, she didn’t say anything. Elizabeth’s presence was comforting to her. She had never seen her dad scared before, but Katy was pretty sure that he was, and that frightened her.
Jake’s right arm was getting numb. He stopped, stood Katy on a dry oak stump, and leaned against a tree to catch his breath. Elizabeth caught up, and Katy scooted over on the stump to make room for her to sit down. Jake pulled out his map and unfolded it. He shined his flashlight on the girls to make a quick assessment. Katy squinted. She had a bad scratch on her forehead that she hadn’t said anything about. Elizabeth had a swollen eye and a bad bruise on her cheekbone. Jake noticed that she was shaking and cold. He didn’t have any more clothes to offer her. His plan was to make their way to the Little Buck Field where they could get warm and rest in a shooting house. He touched Katy’s scratch and brushed off some dried blood.
“Dad, I wanna go home.”
Elizabeth simply nodded her head. Jake understood.
“I do, too, girlfriend. Let’s rest here for a few minutes; then we’ll go straight for a place to hide out.”