by Rusty Ellis
“Daddy…” she said with her eyes still closed.
Sitting on the ground next to her, Ransom pulled his daughter partway onto his lap. The emotions overtook him and the tears rolled down his face.
Ransom looked at his daughter’s face. She opened her eyes and looked at him. She turned her head into his chest and began to sob. Ransom looked up and around the pool. Corey was gone. He had confidently walked away.
* * *
With Maddie in the back of the ambulance, Ransom returned to his truck to lock the doors and ride along with her. At his truck he looked on the dash and saw his phone. His gun was gone.
Picking up the phone he saw a text message had come through, “702-555-0189: Almost done.”
37
Maddie lay sleeping in the emergency room bed while Ransom watched her from a chair at her bedside. The doctor reported to Ransom that there was no apparent permanent damage from the day’s events. When hitting the water, her body experienced laryngospasm. Basically, her larynx had involuntarily clamped down, preventing the pool water from entering her lungs. They were still trying to determine what chemical she had inhaled through the rag the killer held over her face.
Leesa joined Ransom at the hospital and struggled to keep her tears at bay when seeing Maddie lying there. Ransom motioned for Leesa to join him at the nurse’s station near Maddie’s room in case she awoke. He leaned heavily on his cane and limped over to the counter for support.
“I’m not sure what to say,” Leesa began.
“Let me start,” Ransom touched her arm, “I’m sorry about throwing your keys. I really didn’t have a choice.”
“I know. I would’ve done the same thing.”
“What did Gonzalez and Hatch find out about his history?” Ransom asked.
“They pulled in a couple favors from juvenile hall. Turns out he was placed into foster care at 13 after his mother went to prison,” she explained. “Father unknown.”
The prison information caught Ransom off guard, “For what?”
“The feds actually picked up the case. She was a small pawn in the overall game, but they hit her with Maintaining a Drug Involved Premises. She was arrested on May 11, 2010. The date on the ice cream shop note. Basically, she owned the house her boyfriend was running dope out of. Lots of dope. She ended up catching a 53 month sentence.”
Leesa let the information sink in a little and continued, “She was released when Corey was 18 and moved in with him. She died January 18, 2018, after living with him for four years. Pancreatic cancer. That was the date on the note at the park”
“He felt his family was taken from him,” Ransom worked to make sense of the puzzle. “The only known family he had, his mother. He blames it on us, the police.”
“He’s in the wind now. He could be on his way anywhere,” Leesa looked at Ransom to confirm her observation.
Ransom lowered his head and his voice, “He has my gun.”
Ransom explained the events and placing his gun on the dash of his truck. He pulled out his phone and pulled up the last text he received from Corey and showed it to Leesa.
“702-555-0189: Almost done.”
Leesa read the text out loud and looked at Ransom, “What do you think it means? He’s going after another family?”
“Not sure,” Ransom replied. “So far he’s been pretty consistent selecting entire families. I’m not sure that he’s done here.”
The ‘entire family’ comment allowed a horrible afterthought to surface. “What if he’s not done with you. You were the only ones that survived. Would he consider going after your ex, Brenda, since he’s not done?”
“I don’t think so,” he considered the possibility. “He’s only dealing with direct connections, direct relationships.”
“But that’s it, right? You and Maddie.”
A sick thought crossed his mind, “He must have been watching my house to know I left this morning. What if he was casing my house at other times?”
“What if he was?” she was unsure where Ransom was going with this.
“I’ve been seeing Teresa Daniels,” Ransom let Leesa put it together. “She’s dropped me off at home a couple of times. If he ever saw us together…”
38
Corey watched as the little red BMW pulled into the garage. The garage door started down as the woman stepped from the car. A light thud sounded when the bottom of the door reached the pavement. Corey sat in his car. A fresh set of license plates on his car from another Honda Accord he’d found while scouring neighborhood streets. Tucked in between a large pickup truck and midsize SUV, the dark Accord disappeared in plain sight.
Through the front window, Corey could see a light toward the back of the house flicker on. He reached for the passenger seat and retrieved the newly acquired Glock. Climbing out of the car, he looked up and down the street for any lights or movement before walking across the street with the gun at his side. Reaching the house, he skirted between the bushes and stucco on the side of the house to reach the back wall. The six-foot brick wall was conveniently close to the ground-mounted air conditioning unit. Tucking the gun into his rear waistband and stepping onto the unit, he kicked up and over the lip of the wall, hesitating in mid-air to make sure of his landing area in the backyard.
Crouching in the loose gravel, he crept along the side of the house until he could view the back porch. The glow from the light inside illuminated the back patio area. He continued along the back wall until he reached the tall glass sliding doors. Slowly he strained his neck and peeked with one eye into the kitchen area. She was standing at the sink with her back to the patio door. Corey watched as she dried her hands and walked toward the living room. He could hear the television turn on in the other room and see the colors flicker against the opposing wall.
Corey pulled a small suction cup from his front pocket and then a slender glass cutting device from the other pocket. Looking to confirm she was still in the other room, he maneuvered to the lock side of the sliding door and stuck the suction cup to the glass closest to the lock. He waited until the sound of the television was comfortably constant before scoring a rough circle around the diameter of the suction cup. Hearing the television go temporarily quiet, he waited patiently for the noise of another show to return. He scored the round pattern a second time. Holding on to the end of the suction cup, he used the scoring device to tap on the glass and felt as the glass circle released from the main pane and into his hand. Setting the glass on the ground next to him, he watched the living room area and could still hear a sufficient amount of noise from the television’s speakers. He reached through the hole in the glass and unlocked the sliding door latch. Pulling the gun from his waistband, he pressed on the door handle and coaxed it open enough to slip into the kitchen.
With his arm stretched out and the gun pointing straight ahead, Corey stepped toward the living room and the woman. Passing the wall between the kitchen and living room, he swung the gun in a round arch to locate the woman. Standing in front of the television were two people, both facing him, both with guns in their hands. Corey was confused at seeing the two figures and slightly lowered the gun.
“Drop it!”
Corey’s confusion turned to anger as he recognized Detective Walsh’s face, “You!”
The other person yelled and redirected his attention, “Drop it Corey. Now!”
Corey was confused at hearing his name and looked at the woman, “Gardner!”
The fury in Corey’s face rose, his breathing quickened. He raised the gun in Ransom’s direction.
“Don’t do it Corey! Don’t do it!” Ransom ordered.
Corey smiled and pointed the gun at Ransom. The sound of four shots rang out as Corey twisted from the impact. He stared at Ransom and Leesa as the gun in his hand fell to the carpeted floor. He tried to catch himself falling backward but was unable to stop as he slumped against the back wall. Ransom stepped around the sofa, his firearm still in his hands.
Corey was stari
ng straight ahead and saw Ransom’s feet coming toward him. Ransom kicked the gun on the ground out of Corey’s reach. He holstered his gun and knelt down on his left knee in front of Corey.
Corey took a shallow breath and looked at Ransom, “I’m done.”
Ransom watched as Corey’s eyes drifted to a distant stare.
Using the back of the sofa, Ransom stood up and limped to where his Glock was setting on the floor, the gun Corey had taken. Bending over, he picked up the gun and hobbled to a chair in the corner of the room and dropped down.
Resting the gun on top of his leg, he looked back toward Leesa, then Corey, and muttered, “It’s done.”
Epilogue
The smell of pizza permeated the air, circling the customers sitting impatiently at their tables. The ceiling fans circulating the air, tempting their taste buds. Ransom stared across the table at his favorite two girls. Maddie and Teresa had hit it off. The two chatted and texted to the point he felt like a third wheel.
Often the girls would give each other a look, then glance at Ransom and laugh. He didn’t mind being the butt of the joke, whatever the joke was. He was content to know they were both in his corner, and he in theirs.
Tony approached the table with a large pizza on a round metal tray, “Did someone order a Tony Special?”
He shifted a few items on the table and dropped the pizza onto a little stand in the middle. He remained at the table, staring at his creation.
Ransom noticed his hesitation to leave, “It’s a beautiful thing, Tony.”
Tony nodded and turned his attention to Ransom, “I don’t know how you stay retired, Ransom. I don’t know what I’d do with myself sitting around all day at home. I would be bored to death!”
Ransom looked at Maddie and Teresa, who were already smiling at the comment, and commented back, “It’s not so bad, Tony. I seem to keep pretty busy.”
Tony shrugged and left the table.
Maddie and Teresa reached over their plates, each grabbing a slice of hot pizza. Cheesy strands bridged from the pan to their waiting plates and both reached to retrieve the stringy mozzarella that lingered in the air.
Ransom started to reach for his own slice when his phone rang. He looked down at the phone and tapped on the screen to answer it.
Lifting the phone to his ear, he glanced over at Maddie and Teresa who stopped eating and were intently watching him, “Hey Leesa, what’ve you got…?”
Thank You!
Thank you for reading Picture Perfect Murder,
Book 1 of The Ransom Walsh Series.
Also by Rusty Ellis
The Ransom Walsh Series
Picture Perfect Murder
Book 1
Also by Rusty Ellis
The Ransom Walsh Series
Politics of Murder
Book 2
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About the Author
Rusty Ellis is the eldest of seven children born to Paul and Shari Ellis. He grew up living in several cities, due to his father's career in the U.S. Air Force. Rusty has lived in California (where he was born), Utah, Florida, Alaska, Virginia, Idaho, Wyoming, and in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he now lives.
Rusty met his wife in Rexburg, Idaho, while attending college. The two married a short time after (six months later!) and have continued to date and court to this day. Rusty and DaLea have six children, five daughters-in-law, one son-in-law, and 10 grandchildren.
DaLea works as a Realtor and Rusty retired from active law enforcement duty in 2018.
Rusty publishes short family stories and articles on his website (rustyellis.com) and on Medium.com. He enjoys spending time with his family, his two dogs, and riding his Victory motorcycle.
Acknowledgments
I have two wonderful women in my life that made the final product of this book possible.
* * *
To my wife, DaLea, who continues to raise me…and created the cover…and edited the first draft.
* * *
And to my step-mom, Pam, who did the final edit and helped glue the final draft together.
* * *
Thanks to you both!
