Installment #4 Jack Farley

Installment #4
Jack Farley
 Jack shuffled the index cards and then began to arrange them in chronological order. 
The latest was Detective Ambrose Middleton, his partner.  Ambrose had been the first body
removed from the mine shaft, but certainly not the last. He was found setting on a shovel handle
that was wedged in a crevice.  Had it not been so devastating, it might have been funny.  But it
was not.  Ambrose had been his partner and friend for the last nine years.  He took a lot of
Jack’s secrets with him to the grave.  His confidant.  Kind of a father figure.  Ambrose had
underestimated the danger Meg was in that night.  They all had.
 A search for Jeffery Purcell had led them to Meg Parker’s mountain farm.  They knew
Jeffery was known online as redranger and they knew he had corresponded with Meg and planned to
“hook up” with her in Denver.  But he had disappeared upon his arrival at Stapleton.  A search
of Meg’s computer had turned up a stalker.  An uneasy feeling had arisen in Jack, but he did not
make a connection between a stalker, Meg and the redranger.  Not until Amborse was missing along
with Meg was there any suspicion of what was to come.  Not until Meg was rescued and they began
to remember seeing a black Jeep up the road was the true horror of what had happened beginning
to unfold.  Not until the detectives followed the road they had seen the black Jeep on and
stumbled upon the abandoned mine shaft did they find Ambrose.  And when his body was retrieved
they began to count the corpses.  There were eleven in all.  They dated back to as far as 17
years. 
 The first was a boy who appeared to be about 16 to 19 years old at the time of his
death.  He as pretty deteriorated and a positive identification was still to come.  Dental
records were no help as the kid did not appear to be dentist friendly at all.
 The next three were women.  Probably whores who were never even missed.  They were
killed about five years after the boy.  Close together.  Maybe a month or so apart.  Then a man,
apparently a jogger.  An old man who appeared to be a business man.  A teen age boy and girl
four years ago who were identified as kids from Littleton who were camping in the mountains.  A
whore named Flo Benson from Denver.  The last two were Jeffery Purcell and Ambrose.
 Except for Jeffery Purcell and Ambrose Middleton the others if taken separately had no
similarities, nothing in common, and no reason to be there.  They could have been written off as
random killings except for the location they were found in and the fact that each one had a
broken neck.  Everyone was exactly the same and in the same location, therein tying them all in
a neat little bundle to Marshall Purcell.  It was just a matter now of identifying them and
locating next of kin.  The bodies would then be returned to the families and the cases marked
closed.  The fact was that the only ones who had ever been reported missing were the jogger, the
business man, and the two teenagers.
 Jack picked up the cards, stacked them neatly and put them in his shirt pocket.  He
flipped Meg Parker’s information from the file and dialed her number.  Might as well get this
show on the road.  She had every right to know just how close she had come to being victim
number 12.  He listened as the phone rang in the house on the mountainside.  As he closed his
eyes and pictured her moving to the phone he felt a warm glow.  Meg Parker was one good looking
woman.  And a widow.  What more could he ask for in a woman?  Well, personality and fact was she
had lots of that.
 “Parker residence.”  That was a distinctly male voice.  “Kevin Jakson, speaking.”  Ah,
that was better!  Her son.
 “Hello, Kevin.  This is Detective Jack Farley in Denver with the sheriffs office.  Could
I possibly speak to your mother?”
 “Well, hello Jack!  Good to hear your voice.  Hang on and I will get mom.”  Jack heard
the phone being placed on the table and after a few moments was rewarded with Meg’s voice on the
line.
 “Hello.  This is Meg Parker.”
 “Hi Meg.  This is Jack Farley and I will make this brief.  I would like to drive down in
the morning and fill you in with what we know about this Marshall Purcell.  Is that something
you are interested in or not?”  There was a pause and he thought he might have lost the
connection.  “Meg?  Are you there?”
 “Yes, Jack, I am here.  You just caught me off guard.  I am not sure I want to hear
this, but if I don’t I will always wonder and no doubt read it in the paper or hear it on the
news, so I guess the answer is yes.  What time shall I expect you?”
 “It will probably be around 9:30 give or take.  Is that alright?”
 “It sure is.  That gives us time to have breakfast and go for a walk and then I can grab
a shower before you get here.”
 Jack suddenly swallowed very hard and caught his breathe as the vision of Meg in the
shower flashed before his eyes.  That was a vision he wanted to keep fresh in his mind but knew
he should not.  This was business and damn serious business at that.  He sat up straight and
cleared his throat.  “Good.  I will see you in the morning then.”  As he placed the phone in the
cradle he suddenly cringed as he realized that he had all the makings of an erection and he had
not had one of those in years.  Damn Meg Parker!

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Installment #3 Fred

Installment #3
Fred.
 Fred looked down the mountain at the little farm below.  Now that gray car was not there last night.  Oh, I know, that is the boy’s boyfriend.  Well, that is weird.  What was the kid’s name?  Meg’s son.  And he was really a pretty nice kid, but something about a guy and a guy.  He kind of thought it would be nice if the boy lived a little closer.  He would like to get to know him better.  Didn’t know why, just thought it would be nice.
 Fred turned back up the mountain and started home.  He liked to come here to the clearing and watch the sunrise.  Couldn’t see it from his cabin.  Way to many trees.  Same with the moon.  If he wanted to see the moon when it was big, he had to come here because when it got high enough for him to see, it was little.  He walked slowly turning his head from side to side.  He loved this mountain and it’s beauty never ceased to amaze him.  The smells were so fresh and the colors so vibrant.  He stopped and threw his head back and breathed deeply.  The mighty Rocky Mountains!  He felt so small when he looked up at their majesty.  He began to hum softly,  “Oh beautiful, for spacious skies.  For amber waves of grain.  For purple mountains majesty, above the fruited plain.”  Oh, why couldn’t he have written that song?  Well, mostly cause he was not a song writer for one thing.
 Fred suddenly became morose as he wondered just what he was.  He had never studied to be anything.  He had worked here and there doing this and that.  Handyman stuff mostly.  Yeah, he had been a Marine for four years, but that was only four years.  Never really needed to work.  Always a loner.  Oh, there was that woman in Kansas that he had years ago, but he ran away from her.  He had thought about going back, but never knew why.  She was just a woman and he did not need any woman.  He wondered why his father had killed his mother and hid her in that root cellar.  They seemed to be happy, or at least resigned, but then he never really knew them, he guessed. 
 He sighed as he came into his clearing.  He ought to get a dog.  Dog would be nice.  Maybe a black one.  Not a little one; a big one.  Not too big though because it would be a house dog.  He could talk to it sometimes in the evening.  And he could take it for walks.  Like Meg.  She took her dogs for walks and kept them in the house.  Maybe he would get two dogs.  Oh!  And a cat.  Maybe a cat.  He had never seen a mouse in his cabin, but if he had a cat it would eat the mouse.  Cats were strange things.  Meg’s cat acted like a dog.  Well sort of anyway.  He never seen anyone pet it.  He saw them pet the dogs, but the cat was standoffish.  What was it’s name?  What was the dogs names?  It made him sad that he could not remember those things.  But why should he?  Not like he seen them that often.  He sighed and settled into the little chair setting beside the door of the cabin.  His life was pretty boring.  Did he want it to be different?  It might be kind of nice to have people around or to be around people.  Maybe he would walk down to Meg’s farm a little later and say hello to the boy.  Yes!  Yes he would. 
 He thought of how he and the boy had rescued Meg from the scar faced guy.  That must mean something, them doing that.  Sure it did.  Damn!  Why couldn’t he remember the boy’s name? 
 Then he was distracted by small funnel shaped things in the dirt at the edge of his cabin.  Ant Lions.  He knew what they were.  And he knew how the operated.  The Ant Lion made a funnel shaped hole in the dirt.  Along came an ant and fell over the side and slid to the bottom.  The hole was only about a half inch deep, but to a tiny ant it was quite a drop.  And when the ant hit the bottom of the hole, Mr. Ant Lion sprang from his hiding place and ate him.  Fred knew this because mother had taught him about the dreaded Ant Lion.  He was very small when she showed him the Ant Lion traps and told him the story.  He had not slept that night for fear an Ant Lion might get him.  When he told mother, she laughed.  She called him silly and he had snuggled close and she had held him, keeping him safe.  She was such a good mother.  He was so lucky she was his mother.  And he had slept in her arms and not been afraid of the Ant Lion again.


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Chapter Two....Installment #2

Installment #2
Greg
 Greg nimbly caught the strap of the blue duffle bag on the carousel.  First time around.  This was going to be a good day.  He glanced around and located the rental car counter.  Lifting the bag into position over his shoulder he walked that way.  This was his first time in Stapleton and he was fascinated by the architecture.  From the air it had looked like a giant prairie schooner.  This was an International Airport which gave it an added air of importance.  He ought to check the name out.  Denver International Airport, DIA.  Or was it Stapleton?
 Very soon he found himself being walked out a side door and ushered into a silver Mazda.  As he settled back into the leather seat and adjusted the back rest he could not help but think of the last trip to Colorado.  Well, first and last were the same, but now this was his second.  Until he had met Kevin he had not been interested in Colorado.  California was enough for him.  He glanced at his watch.  4:26 AM.  Yep, he would be at the farm before 7:00.  Wonder if Kevin told Meg I wanted Huevos, he thought to himself, then scoffed.  Of course he had.  Kevin was just that kind of guy.
 As he left the airport and entered the toll road, he thought of his mother.  She had taken him to the airport and wished him well, but he knew she had reservations.  She had not taken the news that he and Kevin were now roommates well at all.  He knew she still held out the hope that his being gay was a phase he was going through.  His “coming out” had been a long time coming and he had not told her until he was sure.  First there had been John, and then Mark, followed by Justin, and then a string of faces he did not remember.  He had drank to much many times trying to convince himself that he was not gay.  It had not done any good and when he finally accepted himself, he went to his mother.  At first she had denied it.  Then she had refused to listen.  Then came the anger at him followed by self recrimination of herself.  In the end she had wept in his arms and appeared to accept him for who he was.  But there were still her friends to contend with and the endless stream of “dinner dates” with her friends and their daughters.  “Such a lovely couple.”
 Greg knew that it was not his mother’s idea to set him up with the friends daughters, but she did nothing to stop it from occurring.  “Marianne and Joe are coming to dinner Friday night.  Could you just be a dear and entertain Chloe?”  Sometimes he wanted to blurt out the truth to the simpering little darling, whoever she was, but he could not do that to his mother.  Life had been hard on her since dad died of a massive coronary at the young age of 39.  Eloise and Roger had been high school sweethearts and had married the week after graduation.  Roger had started a construction company and it had snowballed into real estate, shopping malls, and soon they were financially secure and were ready to have more children, but it had not happened.  Greg was 20 when Roger died and 23 when he told his mother he was gay.  At 25 he received his trust fund money and since he had finished the education he had pursued in the food service industry, he bought the pub.  Two years later his business was on solid ground and he had regular customers.  And Kevin Jackson walked through the door.
 Greg smiled as he tossed the money into the chute at the last toll booth and shifted in the seat to relieve the ressure on his spine.  This Mazda was a very nice car with all the goodies right at his fingertips.  He had always driven sports cars, but now that he was getting older a sedan seemed to offer more comfort.  Not that 27 was old, but it was pushing 30.  He sighed as he looked at the clock and checked the Garmin.  Right on time.  58 minutes and he would be in the bosom of his new family.  Life was good.

Update on the publishing of Chapter One...Loose Ends

http://loumercerwordsofwisdom.blogspot.com/

Chapter Two...The Ant Lion

Installment #1
Meg
     Meg watched Fred from the kitchen window as he crossed Banner road and headed back up the mountain.  He walked with the air of a man who had just unburdened his soul, and indeed, he had.
 She had gone to bed last night and awoken this morning to this long day.  It had begun when she reached for the doggie door cover to let the dogs back in and ended when she found herself on a boulder and supported by Fred’s arms and Kevin on the phone.
     It had been a long day.  The lengthening shadows marked the end of the day and the beginning of the night.  Could she possibly sleep tonight without her mind whirling through the day’s events?  She turned from the window to Kevin, her son, setting at the table and watching her with a concerned look on his face.
     “Are you all right, mom?  You sure look tired.”  He smiled and waved his cell phone before laying it on the table.  “Greg sends his love.  He is on his way and will be here in the morning.  He wants Huevos for breakfast.”
     “Oh, dear, is he driving?  Alone?”  Meg frowned.
     “Oh, no!  He is packing and will catch the plane at 2:30 AM and drive a rental car down from Denver.  Said he should be here by about 7:00.  Is the green chile thing do able?” 
 Meg laughed.  “Anything is do able!  And where Greg is concerned, it is always do able and I will be tickled to death to do it.  Just let me dig some pork out of the freezer.”  She turned and started for the garage where the freezer was located.  She stopped with her hand in mid air suddenly afraid to open the door.
     Kevin noticed the hesitation and hurried to her side.  “It’s all right, mom!  You have been through a terrible ordeal and you have every reason to be afraid.  You just have to remember to be aware and watch for anything unusual.  The garage door is closed and locked so you are safe.  You can open the door.”  Kevin stood beside the door while Meg rummaged in the freezer and retrieved a small package of diced pork.  Then she stepped inside and firmly locked the door behind her.  Her eyes met Kevin’s and she smiled tremulously. 
     “Well.  There is one thing I do not understand about this whole mess.  I was asleep the whole time.  I did not even know I was in danger.  I did not know anything until I woke up on the boulder with Fred holding me upright.  Why am I so afraid?”  She paused,  put the pork in the refrigerator, and turned back to Kevin.  “I bet part of it is the effects of that drug he gave me.  I never was much good at taking anything like that.  When is Jack going to fill us in on Marshall Purcell?  Or is he?”
     “Gee, mom, it has only been a few hours.  Jack said this guy was a piece of work and that there is a lot of digging that needs to be done.  He did say that he would try to get up here next week.  He will call first.  Hey, Fred looks pretty good all cleaned up.  Shall I start worrying?  He was looking at you kind of funny.” 
     Meg shrugged and turned back to the window.  The shadows were lengthening and the cars were coming down the mountain and heading east toward the highway.  They must have all the evidence they needed from Marshall Purcell’s cabin and tunnel.  The detective who had debriefed Fred stood by the road waiting to be picked up and taken back to Denver.  Meg suddenly felt a tiredness weigh on her shoulders like she had never known before.  She turned to Kevin and spoke.  “Honey, I am going to bed.  I am so tired I can barely stand on these two feet.  Oh, I will be so happy to see Greg.  I am so glad you two found each other.”  She stretched and yawned, kissed Kevin on top of the head and walked toward the hallway.  The dogs fell in behind her and soon passed her on the stairs.  As she heard their toe nails click on the bare floor she made a mental note to call the groomer and make an appointment.  Mundane things to do.  That was what she needed this night.

Chapter Two...The ant Lion begins

Well hi there kiddies!  I just finished Installment #4 so I can now start publishing my next book.  I shall post Installment #1 tomorrow morning.  For now you should know that Chapter One...Loose Ends is on the way to the printer.  Should have the proof in my hands by the weekend and then the acutal books will be ready in about two weeks.  And I intend to sell you a copy!

In the meantime lets get to work on the next one.  I am going to leave the title of the blog as Chapter One so you can find it.  But the new book will be Chapter Two...The Ant Lion

Fasten your seat belts!  It is going to be a bumpy ride.

Update

I am working on my cover.  When that is done it is off to the printer.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I am working on Chapter Two...Installment #3.  When I have five done than we can start the whole thing over again.
So, keep the faith!