Installment #44 Epilogue

Installment #44

 Epilogue

Jack and Leroy watched as the body was brought out and placed in the back of the ambulance. As the tow truck secured the Jeep, Jack remembered the black Jeep that turned into an obscure road 30 minutes up the road. When he mentioned it to Leroy, he recalled the same black Jeep following them down to the farm. Perhaps Marshall’s keys would be found there. And Ambrose. And Jeffery. And some where in Denver, Jennifer would be thanking her lucky stars that she was born a lesbian and had never even looked at her boss “that way”.

A man in Brattleboro, Vermont was boarding a plane for Stapleton International Airport in Denver, Colorado to assist in looking for his lost son.  Or so he thought. When he landed he would find that the lost son had been found and the other son that was found was now completely lost, forever. Knowing that the men would be down from the mountain soon, Meg got the Bunn ready and poured the water through.


Her mind flashed to that morning when she had made coffee. She remembered reaching for the panel that was in the doggie door.  She jumped when the door bell rang.

Kevin gave her a hug.  “It will take time, mom.” She hurried to the door and was surprised to find Fred there, and it looked like he had trimmed his beard! He held his hat in his hands and smiled timidly at Meg. A simple man, she thought. A very simple man. Like her Tommy. Meg smiled and held the door open wider as he entered and she looked into his very dark eyes; Kevin’s eyes. She realized that he was also freshly showered and carried the scent of the great out doors. The fresh clean scent of…… Irish Spring.

The end....for now.

Installment #43 Marshall

Installment #43

Marshall

Marshall realized when he pulled into his yard that he did not have a key to his house on his key ring since his keys were God only knew where and would need to enter through the tunnel entrance. Parking near the front door he left the door of the Jeep open. He was not going to be here very long. He was just going to grab Meg and slip back down the mountain before the Johnny laws decided to spread out; start searching the area. And he sure did not want to be standing there with his arms full of Meg Parker when they popped into the yard.

“Oh, gee, look what I found sleeping in my bed!” He quickly reached the edge of the clearing and without a look around, he slid the door over, stepped inside and slid it back into place. No sense tempting fate. He flipped the switch that illuminated the tunnel and was amazed to see Meg standing in the middle of the tunnel being held erect by Fred, the idiot handyman.
“What in the hell are you doing in my tunnel This is my property! Where are you taking that woman?”

Fred stared at the livid man.
“What are you doing with this woman? You are holding her against her will! I ain’t stupid. I dug her out of your root cellar. I am taking her to her home. You have no right doing this. This is just wrong.” A tear slid down Fred’s face and Marshall laughed.

“You damn simpleton! You have meddled where you have no business. How do you think you are going to stop me from what I want? Look at her! She is sound asleep. Are you going to drop her and then what? You under fed little faggot, you are not going to get out of this tunnel. At least not alive. Now I will wait while you put her down very gently over there against the wall and then I am going to very quietly break your f-ing neck. Or I will just break your neck and catch her when she falls. Your choice, simple simon.”

Fred knew there was no way out of this one. He knew that he did not stand a chance in hell against this giant before him. He would do what he could to protect Meg with his last breathe, but he had to put her out of harms way.
“Let me put her down.  I don’t want her to get hurt. I will put her right over there and then we will settle this man to man. At least I will try.  Momma always said I should do my very best.”
Marshall flushed beet red.  “Your momma? What in the hell is wrong with you? Your momma should have told you about the big bad boogie man that lives in the tunnel, you little wooze. Now put her down!”

Fred eased Meg against the wall and let her slide gently to the ground.  He bent and kissed her on top of the head and straigtened just in time to see a look of horror on Marshall Purcell’s face. He saw his glass eye pop out and fall to the floor. He saw Marshall turn and move toward the open door. What Marshall had seen was Kevin who had just thrown a huge rock and hit him in the back of the head. What Marshall did not see was the razor sharp Machete raised in the air and propelled though the air with a force that even Freddie Himes, Jr did not know he had in his body. When the downward thrust was finished the jugular vein that had fed the evil mind of Marshall Purcell was completely severed.

Kevin and Fred locked eyes above the now inert body that lay on the floor of the tunnel. Kevin rushed to Meg. He gathered her in his arms and together the three of them skirted past the dead man and hurried to the door.  When they were outside Fred closed the door and twisted the lock. He was shaking and sweating. He looked at Kevin and began to cry.

 “Oh, man I was so scared! I knew I had to get her out of there when I found her. I knew he was a bad man and then when he caught me, I figured we were both goners. Where did you come from? You are her kid, right? How did you know she was in there? Oh, we got to tell somebody!”

Kevin looked at the sad little man and knew he had to do something with Meg so he could do something with Fred.  He located a big boulder nearby and nodded toward it with his head.

“Set down over there, Fred and I will put mom beside you and you hold her while I make a call.”

 And Fred, the innocent little child he was, did as he was told. Fred sat and Kevin gently placed Meg beside him.
“Hold her so she doesn’t fall while I call the guys down at the farm.”

Meg was just beginning to stir when the sheriff cars rolled up Storm Lake road and onto the Purcell property. When Jack came out of the tunnel he looked at Kevin and Fred.
“Who swung that machete? It is stuck in his bone and probably not ever gonna come out. Now who goes first? Not Meg. She looks like she is still pretty out of it. That Adavan is some potent shit. Fred, is it? You start. Try to remember everything that happened. How did you find Mrs. Parker? Do you know this guy? Oh, go ahead, just tell it like it happened.”

 “Well, I shot me a little deer. Oh, God, now I am going to jail for sure. Damn! Damn!”

Jack laughed. “We will let this one slide, just tell us what happened here.”
“Well, I shot me a little deer and the shot was off a bit so I tracked it over here. Found it right by that tree over there.  I looked through the trees and saw this big guy carry a woman into the house and then leave. I kind of thought it looked like the Parker woman but I wasn’t real sure. Well, I trussed up the deer and hung it and slit it’s throat and then field dressed it so it would be good to eat. When I wrapped the sheet around it to keep the flies off  I got to thinking that if it was her she might be in trouble. Well, I knew this tunnel was here cause I dug it. I knew that would be the only way I could get in the house, so I went there.  The tunnel is different now than it used to be so it took me a while to figure out that he had changed it. I knew she was somewhere in there so I figured it had to be in the root cellar. I found the soft dirt and dug it out and went in and there she was! And it was her! And I knew I had to get her out of there and quick cause he would be back. And he was. Caught us right out there where you found him. Would have been me if this guy had not come along.”

He indicated Kevin.   Jack looked at Kevin expectantly.

 “Well, I just happened to walk up here and I saw that deer hanging in the tree and it scared hell out of me. Then I climbed a tree and saw that I could see the farm from the top of it. While I was up there I saw the guy get out of the black Jeep and walk around in the yard and then head towards the tree. I figured I was a goner, but he opened a door or something and disappeared inside. I thought that was weirder than weird so I crept a little closer and I picked up a rock just in case. The door did not make a sound and I was damn glad of that! When I peered in there I seen him and Fred and mom. Did not take much to figure out who the bad guy was. When Fred was putting mom down the guy was intent on that and when Fred kissed the top of her head I threw that rock with everything I had and prayed like a demon. But Fred is the real hero here.” He beamed at Fred.

 Meg stirred and looked at Fred in bewilderment. A gurney appeared and it was clear Meg was going to be checked out in the back of the ambulance. She was like a little girl as they placed her on the cot and put the oxygen over her nose. The last thing she could remember was reaching to lift up the doggie door.

“Well you two are going to need to undergo a complete debriefing at the house so Leroy will give you a ride down.”
Fred suddenly looked very agitated.  “Look, I ain’t done nothing wrong, except that deer. I got that deer and I can’t let that meat go to waste.  That would be just wrong!  Can I just take it home and cut it up some and stick it in the cooler? Then I could come down there.”

Jack smiled at the rough country man. “Yeah, go ahead. If you leave it hanging there you are going to get in trouble for sure. But come down as quick as you can.” And Fred hurried away into the forest, intent on his job. Meg and Kevin walked down the mountain instead of riding. Meg thought the exercise would do her good.  Clear her head. As they neared the farm the dogs caught sight of her and ran to meet them.  She laughed as she held the two squirming bodies and caught sight of the calico cat watching them with a haughty air. This was home.

Installment #42 Kevin

Installment #42

Kevin

Jack quickly caught Kevin up to speed with what he knew, which was not much. Meg was missing. A man she had planned on meeting in Denver was missing. Someone had hacked into her email. That person lived either in Denver or near here. Or both. What did Kevin know? Nothing. He had not even known about the man in Denver. Mom had been a widow for over three years now, so it did not surprise him. Could the man in Denver have done something to Mom?
No.  Jeffery Purcell was missing first.
Had Meg seemed different in any way when he last spoke to her?
No, she was always just mom.

Suddenly the door burst open and Leroy and Ferrel hurried across the yard. “Jack! You are not going to believe this! The computer in Denver belongs to a man named Marshall Purcell! Marshall Purcell is Jeffery Purcell’s twin brother. They have been estranged for years. The father is in Brattleboro, Vermont.  He has not seen either son in several years.  No contact at all with Marshall since before the mother died.  Marshall never went back for the funeral. The father remarried and moved to Vermont or moved to Vermont and then remarried, but shortly after the marriage Jeffery wrote him out of his life.”

Jack frowned as he digested this bit of news.  “This is just getting worse.  Have someone pick up Marshall Purcell and take him in for questioning.  He is going to have some explaining to do about hacking Parkers’ computer.”  He turned to Kevin.  “How does your mom know Marshall Purcell? Who is he?”
Kevin shook his head. “ I have no clue. I never heard her mention him at all. What does he do?  Mom never goes to Denver unless it is business. What does this Purcell guy do?”

Ferrel glanced at his notes. “He is a stock broker. Quite successful. Your mom have stock?”
 “Yeah, but I bought it through my broker. I keep her portfolio and she does not buy anything any more. We are just kind of riding the sinking ship and hoping it makes a comeback.”

Who in the hell was this guy and why was he spying on his mother?  Mom would surely have told him if she were interested in someone.  And she would have told him if she had someone playing inside her computer.  Well, she would have told him had she known it. Leroy disconnected from his call on the cell phone and turned to face the group.  He was very solemn.

“Well, they sent a team to Purcell’s office.  He was not there, but Jennifer, the office manager was and she was quite helpful.  Seems Purcell left the office on Thursday morning and has not been heard from since.  When she went to transfer money from the main account into the payroll account, she found there was nothing to transfer. Seems Marshall Purcell had already transferred it somewhere.  She went to his apartment to confront him, but that is gone too.  Nothing there.  Like he fell off the face of the earth.”

 Kevin sat down on the small patch of grass by the back porch.  Immediately Daisy and Elvira were in his lap.  He laughed as he saw Icarus, Miss Independent cat, watching the dogs.  These three animals had the same disposition as Meg,  all love and happiness.  He stared at the mountain.  What secrets did it hold?  He and Greg had known something was amiss, but never dreamed it would lead to this.  Mom was way to trusting. Meeting a guy on the Internet was absurd.  Making plans to meet him in Denver was even more out of character.  He watched as the fingerprint guy came out and walked to his van. Jack intercepted him. Kevin watched them with their heads together. Goodbyes were said and Jack approached Kevin.

No good news there.  Says a preliminary turned up a lot of prints, but they all seem to be accounted for and he does not have much hope.”

Somehow Kevin was not surprised by this.  He suddenly felt like he was smothering.  “Jack, I am going for a short walk.  Probably up the mountain a ways.  I need to call California and the reception here is not the best.”
Jack nodded.  “ I hear you buddy.   Here is my cell phone number if you need me or see anything unusual just give me a jingle.” Kevin slipped the card into his cell phone case, nodded at the dogs to stay and headed north, up the mountain in the direction Meg had refused to go just a week earlier.  The dogs watched him go a ways and then settled down in the grass and the cat lay in the grass twitching her tail and contemplating a nap.

Instalmment # 41 Marshall

Installment #41
Marshall

Marshall bounced out of the dirt road and almost broadsided the sheriff car. He immediately applied brakes and then relaxed as he noticed it was not this county sheriff. Might have been a stroke of luck there. But he had immediately seen that he was going to follow this guy for a while and as much as every fiber of his being longed to hold his darling Meg, he was not going to wind up with the sheriff going through his vehicle and delaying his return.
Ah, she was sleeping so peacefully when he left her. And he knew she would wait for him. All of his life he had yearned for a woman just like her. One who would understand him. One who would listen when he told her what his mother made him do. The secrets he had kept for all these years. The evil that lived in the home where he grew up. The father and brother that never knew that while they were at work or school or at the basketball game that he was home sucking on Mother’s tits and screwing her brains out.
She knew it was wrong and she did not care. “Marshall, come here. Dad and Jeffery went to  the movies and will not be home for hours.  Come in here and talk to me. Feel my skin! Feel how soft it is. Do you know what keeps a woman’s skin soft? This.” She reached down and laid her hand inside his crotch. “ This keeps me alive and vibrant. Your father does not understand. Slam, bam, thank you, ma’am.”
 As she spoke her hands worked his zipper and soon his jeans were around his knees. Her open mouth encircled him and her black eyes watched his face. Marshall jerked the wheel just in time to avoid a very bumpy ride down the side of a very steep cliff.
 Damn! Hope those guys up ahead were not watching the rear view mirror. “Ah, gee officer, I was just remembering a blow job from my mother and got a little inattentive there.” That ought to hold them. Marshall always tried to not let the hard on happen, but it did.  It always did. After she was satisfied he would take a long hot bath and then a hot shower, but still, the image of Mother with her lips slightly parted and her eyes watching his face as he mounted her and found the shooting stars that only she could bring was before him.
He liked it when she wanted “doggie style” because then he did not have to look at her. But still when he bucked and drove into her it was her face that was before him. It was mother he had seen with all the whores in Denver and Viet Nam and all points between and beyond. But he had found peace in the eyes of Meg Parker. At least he thought he had. Would. Could. Meg would be his salvation. Their union would be pure. Meg had a good heart. He had watched her with the dogs.  He had watched her with a wounded bird. With her son. Alone in her bedroom when nobody was around. She read her Bible.
She listened to Classic Country. He had always preferred Heavy Metal and stuff like that, but he found himself turning to Garth Brooks more often. Willie Nelson.  Kenny Rogers. Country guys knew how to rip your heart out. Not the women though. Dolly was a perfect example of what he did not want in a woman. Red lips and bleached hair. Meg did not dye her hair. She only wore a little lipstick and that only some of the time. As Marshall drove he pictured her lying on her cot waiting for him.

When he unlocked the door she would rush to him. Well if the Adavan had worn off, she would.
Maybe she would fall at his feet and cling to his knees. That would be a nice touch. Subservient. He would slowly take her hands and raise her to her feet.
“Oh, darling! Do not worship me so. We are equal, you and I.  I need you as much as you need me. Together! Together! Here, lie on the bed. Let me run you a nice bath. I am so sorry I had to leave you here all alone. Let me make it up to you.  Oh, I have been bad. Very bad. Do you want to spank me? You can. Oh, yes you can. Here. Let me lower my slacks and you can spank me. Oh, let me bend over. Spank me! Spank your baby boy!…..What the hell!”

 Marshall applied the brakes just in time to avoid a dung green helicopter landing on the road in front of him. The was no missing the big Colorado Law Enforcement stenciled across the side. He noted that he was right in front of Meg’s farm. Damn! Seven minutes and he would have been home. But here he sat. He watched as the door opened and a big burly guy that smelled of cop all over the place stepped down to the ground and then turned and held up his hand for Kevin Jackson, Meg’s son. The little queer guy from California. They both ducked and ran across the drive way to the yard. As they cleared the yard, the pilot gunned the rotor, dipped slightly and then the runners began to raise.

Marshall waited a bit as he surveyed the gathering in the yard. Oh, they had made the connection between Meg and Jeffery and the hunt was on. Well, let them look. He was very good at hide and seek. Jeffery was very well hidden as was the cop. Meg was a different story, but soon they would be in the Jeep headed south. A stop in Colorado Springs at the First National Bank to empty his safe deposit box and then Mexico. He had already bought property in Julisco, Mexico, an American retirement community on a lake that was straight out of a picture book. Living was easy down there. Cheap. Meg might resist at first, but when she accepted how much he loved her and how much she needed him, she would come around. As the dust settled he dropped the lever to Drive, released the brake and moved slowly forward. He briefly made eye contact with the guy who seemed to be in charge, so he lifted his hand in a neighborly wave and headed up the hill and home.

Installment #40 Jack

Installment #40

Jack

Jack hurried to the first sheriff car that pulled on the scene. Leroy! Computer expert and hopefully the man with the answer. Formalities.  “Jack, I want you to meet Ferrel Buford. Ferrel has been a very big help. Has all this fancy equipment and lots of info coming over the wire on the way up here.”

Jack shook the proffered hand as he turned toward the house.
“Pleased to meet you, Jack. I think I have what you need.” He pulled a small notebook out of his pocket. “Well, at least it is sure going to help. But first, I got to pee. Some jerk driving like a maniac about ran us off the road. Damn hairpin curves scare the shit out of me anyway.”
Jack indicated the door Ferrel needed and poured coffee in a cup and offered it to Leroy. Ferrel returned very quickly and took the coffee Jack offered him.
“Now. The hacker is in Denver, but he is also around here close. Unless there are two of them, which I can not see, but there are two computers. The first one is in an office complex in downtown Denver. I have my company working on narrowing that one down.  Should have an answer on that in about an hour.  So the other one is up here on this mountain, but it is wireless and operates on a “hot wire” off of a satellite. Those are really hard to pinpoint.”
Leroy chimed in, “Is there any way we can get information on the people that live up here on this mountain? You know, where and if they work.  If they go into Denver regular. Things like that?”
But Leroy and Jack both knew the mountain backwoods code. Live here, do what you want, bother nobody and you become invisible.
“Oh, I got hold of the kid, Kevin. He is flying into Stapleton about right now.  George will pick him up and the helicopter will shuttle him down here. Don’t know what good he will be since he lives clear out in California, but he might know something, and it is his mother. Maybe she confided something to him that will give us a clue.”

Jack turned back to Ferrel. “Show me what you have. I sure hope we can get something out of it.” Ferrel opened the note book.
 “Red stars are on the Denver computer. Black are on the mountain computer. He started pinging in on her about 5 months ago. Not often. Just occasionally. Goes in, checks her emails, reads them, marks them new, and leaves. Cannot see where he does anything else at all, but he sure is keeping tabs on the redranger.” Jack stared at the dates.

“Do you by any chance have copies of the emails that were sent on these days? Especially….” He stopped as Ferrel stood and went to the car, returning with a folder which he handed to Jack. Quickly he found the one he wanted.

They were to meet at the Sheraton. That was the last communication between the redranger and Meg Parker. Redranger, aka Jeffery Eldon Purcell had arrived in Denver. They knew that much. They knew he had not kept his rendevous with Meg at the Sheraton. He looked back at the dates on the sheet.

There had been no action since the plans were made. Was it possible that the hacker did not need to check on Meg because he knew exactly where both she and Jeffery were now?

“This guy has Meg and Jeffery Purcell!” It was a wild guess and it was also a statement of fact. Jack Farley felt a cold hard knot forming in the pit of his stomach. He hated it when he was right and he knew he was right. And he knew the son was on his way. And he knew he needed answers. No, he needed Meg Parker to be standing in the yard waving when the helicopter landed. That was what he needed, but more than that, he needed to know how to make that happen. He needed computer locations and names on leases and, oh God, this was not looking good at all.

He turned to Ferrel Buford with a pleading look in his eyes. “We need a miracle. We are trying to chase waves in the air that we cannot see. I am afraid if we are not quick enough this woman and the man she was meeting will both die. You are the man that can make it happen.”

As he turned away, he knew that miracles do not always happen just because you want them to. And in the far distance he heard the beating rotor of a helicopter headed towards the little farm on the side of the mountain.

Installment 39 Fred

Installment #39

Fred

Fred switched on the miner’s light on his hat. Damn glad he had it on there. Well, it was always on his head except when he was sleeping. You just never knew when you might need a light and right now he sure needed one. This tunnel was black as old Coty’s ….well it was black alright. He took a few tentative steps forward. The tunnel was dark, and damp, and musty. He would have bet there were lots of spiders and centipedes and Lord only knew what. It was hard to believe that just a foot above his head the sun was shining very brightly, because down here it was another world. Well, this was no place to wishy wash about something. Just do it. Sooner you do it the sooner it was done. And Fred, although every fiber of his being wanted to turn and run out into the bright sunlight, pointed his lantern forward and walked determinedly forward.  Something was not right and by God in Heaven, Fred Himes was going to find out what it was and for once in his life, set it right.

He was amazed at how quickly he arrived at the back entrance to the house.  Sure seemed a lot further when he was digging the silly thing. He pressed his ear to the door and listened. Not a sound.  He knew the man was gone, but still the cabin was deathly quiet. Very slowly he eased the door inward. Nothing. Not even a drippy faucet. Absolute silence. Now the door was completely open. He looked around at the kitchen. Not a dish out of place. The towel hung on the oven door handle. The clock hand moved jerkily around. Fred stepped in the kitchen and closed the tunnel door behind himself. He moved stealthily across the kitchen to the bathroom. Empty. Living room. Undisturbed and empty.

There had to be a woman here somewhere. He had seen the man bring her inside. He very slowly opened the bedroom door and peered inside. No one. Fred stared in consternation at his face in the mirror. Where was she? He canvassed the house once more and then his eyes fell on the door beside the door he had come through. The root cellar! That had to be the root cellar. After he had dug the tunnel the man had altered it and instead of coming up the tunnel to the root cellar, he had come up the tunnel to the back door. Why had he changed that? Fred reached for the door and froze.

How many times had he pictured his father doing this exact samething? Only when he pictured his father he also pictured his mother. His dear, dead mother being placed in the wall of the root cellar by his father. How many times had he gone to the root cellar to get beets, or potatoes, or onions. How many times when the tornado sirens were screaming had he and his father gone to the root cellar knowing that was the one place the tornado could not touch. And not once had he even thought about what might be in the wall of the root cellar.

Never once had he dreamt that his dear sainted mother was sleeping her death sleep just a few feet from him and his father. His father knew. He knew all along and never said a word. When Fred had wished his mother would come back to them and voiced that desire to his father, his father had only said, “Quit dreaming, Freddie, if she was coming back she never would have left.”

Fred often wondered what had happened the night she died. Or was it day? He never even  remembered them ever fighting. Just mom looking sad and dad reading the paper. They never talked. How could his father have ever worked up enough emotion to kill his mother? His father and mother were both unemotional people. He stared at the door.  He was going to have to open it and see what was behind it. Slowly he grasped the knob and turned it. Well, not turning. Locked. Locked! That meant the woman, probably Meg Parker was behind that door and she was locked in there. If she was locked in there she was not a willing participant that was clear. He scoured the door frame for a key. None. The man must have the key.

Think! Think! He remembered back to when he dug the tunnel. At that time it had been through the root cellar. Now it was not. He jerked the tunnel door open, took a few steps and reached his hand out and felt the wall. A little further down.  More. There! The dirt was soft. The man had removed the dirt over there, placing it over here. By doing that he had altered the location of the tunnel. Not much, but enough so the root cellar could now be used as a prison for someone. Or a place to bury her. Maybe she was dead. With a furor he never knew he had Fred unsnapped the folding shovel that hung from his waist and began to dig frantically in the soft dirt. Very soon he had a hole through and could see inside the root cellar. All he could see was another wall, but he would be in the room very soon. And like a man fighting for his very life, he continued to throw dirt over his shoulder until at last the hole was big enough for him to slide through.

As he stood up and looked around he saw her clearly. Meg Parker lay on a small cot with a soft cloth on her shoulder. Chloroform! He moved the cloth, but Meg did not stir. Fred was unsure of anything at that moment. As he gazed down at the sleeping woman something stirred in his soul. Something very far back in the deep recesses of his mind fluttered and made him feel wanted. Something made him feel warm. He touched her cheek tentatively, then smiled. Funny, he did not remember smiling in a very long time, but now it felt rather natural. He knew what he had to do and as he reached for
the woman he felt like he had just come home from a very long and bitter war.

Meg Parker. Darling.