Roger turned and saw Pablo with a big smile on his face walking down the stairs. “I couldn’t stay away.”
Pablo looked at Roger, “I thought Ray and I could compare scars while you do the hard stuff.”
Roger chuckled, “I can’t imagine your doctor thinks it is okay for you to leave the hospital. You just had surgery six hours ago.”
Pablo sat heavily in a chair. He did look tired. He pointed to a couch against the wall, “I’ll probably crash there for tonight instead of going to Jeanne’s. I don’t feel like walking six blocks.”
Roger said, “You didn’t answer my question. Is it alright that you are here?”
Pablo nodded his head. “Doc said to take it easy and stop in tomorrow sometime for a peek. He doesn’t want me in the field or driving any heavy equipment.” Pablo smiled, “Have I missed anything?”
Ray laughed. “You’ve been gone since this morning. What do you think?”
Roger pointed to the television showing Breaking News along the bottom. He turned up the volume. Both Pablo and Ray looked stunned at what they were hearing.
Ray asked, “We did another raid? Tonight?”
Pablo smirked at Ray, “Seems you missed something too.”
Andre had docked the first boat at Dicky’s, walked down the swamp road, and was now nearly at the end of the creepy drive to the rental shack. His phone rang. It was Harold screaming at him, “Where the hell are you? We’re waiting here.”
Andre explained he had to walk back from Dicky’s to the boat rental place. He was just now getting the second boat, and had to walk back again to get his car. Andre reminded Harold that it was at Harold’s insistence they have two boats to ensure they wouldn’t sink.
Harold sounded exasperated. “Just take your car to Dicky’s. Don’t bother comin’ back here. We’ll load this without you. We should be there in about thirty minutes.” The line went dead. Andre kept telling himself this was all worth it.
He had wanted to tell Harold these boats didn’t have motors. Oh well. Andre noticed Pete’s truck was gone. An old Cadillac sat in its place. The shack was dark, and the sign on the door said closed. Andre walked over to the Cadillac and looked inside. It was empty and clean. Maybe someone left with Pete. As Andre walked over to the shack to get a pole for the second boat, he could have sworn he smelled fried chicken. Something scurried behind him. He whipped around to see green eyes staring at him from the brush. He could hear throaty breathing. He ran to the dock.
Andre tossed the rope from the dock into the boat, climbed in, and pushed off with the pole. He barely cleared the end of the dock when he heard a gunshot. The sounds of the swamp went silent. Andre held his breath. He looked around, but the mist was so heavy he couldn’t see anything. His heart was pounding, and his palms were sweaty. Like a boiling pot the low groans and cricket chirps rose from the grasses, and met with the screeches of the owls. The shot sounded like it had come from some distance away. People hunted in the swamps all the time, he told himself. Something thrashed in the water behind him. Snakes slithered from the shore and dropped into the murky water. Andre reached in his pocket and retrieved his inhaler.
Andre pushed on the pole to turn the boat towards Dicky’s and stopped to listen. He could have sworn he heard a woman’s voice chanting. He shuddered. Creepy, damn place. A river rat crawled up the bank near him and hissed. Red eyes glared at him from the water. This certainly was visiting hell. He pushed on down the shoreline until he saw Dicky’s dock. Once there, he tied his rope to the dock and started his final walk back to Pete’s. Damn old swamp fart. Said he wouldn’t make it back for the second boat. He was right about the shoes though. These were going in the trash tonight.
Toby hung all four turkeys from low branches while Junior fought to climb his tree. “Be quiet! What is wrong with you?” Toby hissed at Junior.
Junior whispered back, “The trees are slimy! It’s hard to climb up here.”
Toby shook his head. Junior was turning out to be more of a problem than a helper. Toby surveyed his work. The turkeys looked fine. They all hung about six feet from the ground. Toby shimmied back along the branch to rest in the crotch of the tree. He whispered over to Junior, “From now on send me a text. We shouldn’t be talkin’.” Toby heard a thump on the ground next to Junior’s tree.
He texted Junior: What was that?
Junior answered: I dropped the bug spray.
Alan had been pushing their boat slowly since Thor didn’t want to make any noise. Alan still didn’t know why these guys wanted to stake out Dicky’s. Last he heard, Dicky was in jail for moonshinin’ and poachin’. FBI wouldn’t care about that. Their boat inched around a peninsula when Thor put his hand up for Alan to stop. Jeanne looked back at Thor.
Thor whispered, “I swear I saw a blue light up in the trees over there.” He was pointing across the narrow inlet.
Jeanne frowned as she tried to focus. Jeanne walked over to Thor and whispered as she pointed, “We got a turkey hanging from the tree over there.”
“What?”
Jeanne started walking to the edge of the boat. She looked at Alan and whispered, “Get me closer to that shore.”
Thor tapped her shoulder, “I’m lead on this case. You stay here, and I’ll go.” He looked at her again, “What am I looking for?”
Jeanne smiled, “I think someone hung the turkey for bait. They might be in the trees.”
Thor looked at Alan who shrugged. Thor had to wonder what kind of prey required a whole turkey for bait. Six foot high yet.
Thor mumbled as he stepped on the shore, “Miserable place. Maybe the turkey just committed suicide.”
Thor inched his way toward the bait and tripped on a cypress log covered in moss. He let out a loud moan as he fell to the ground. A bullet passed his face from above. He rolled to his side, pulled his gun, and yelled, “FBI.”
Toby screamed, “Don’t shoot! I thought you were the Rugaru!”
Thor yelled, “Drop your weapon.” A gun thunked on the ground about fifteen feet from where Thor was now standing. “Get down here. What’s your name?”
Toby yelled, “Toby”
A voice a couple of trees down yelled, “And Junior.”
Rolland frowned at Theodore, “I thought you quit smoking.”
Theodore frowned back, brushed a maggot from his sleeve and said, “Sometimes I have a weak moment if I’m stressed.”
Harold returned to the room with a large bucket of water and some cleaning spray. He threw Theodore and Rolland each a pair of rubber gloves. “Hurry up and clean the blood off from this chair. We can’t take all night getting this done.”
They had rolled Patterson’s body in the blood stained rug and carried it to the back of Rolland’s garden truck. Harold covered it with a tarp and pushed it to the side to make room for the chair. It was apparent to him that Rolland and Theodore were not only pansy cowards, but out of shape as well. Harold made sure his daily agenda included exercise and eating healthy. He shook his head as he thought about how lost these guys would be without him. Now he had to hurry them along, like lazy kids.
Harold bellowed, “For God’s sake Theodore, put that damn cigarette down, and get to scrubbing. This isn’t a cocktail party.”
Theodore threw his cigarette into the bucket of water and put on the rubber gloves. “You know Harold, you might show a little compassion for those of us that don’t spend every day of our working lives dealing with murder and bodies.”
Rolland cringed. Confronting Harold was never a good idea.
Harold sighed and apologized. Rolland was stunned. Harold said, “Legally we haven’t done anything wrong. Yet. We didn’t shoot him. Once we move this body….”
Rolland interrupted, “If I have to go down for something, I would much rather it be murder than what we really do!”
Harold continued, “I was going to say, once we move this body to the swamp we should be okay. Every minute this body is here we’re in trouble. In fact, I want to just tak
e the chair to the swamp too. We don’t have time to go to Slidell to dump it. I’d like to wash these maggots off me.”
Rolland threw his gloves down. “Why bother washing the chair? Let’s just get the hell out of here.”
The three of them moved the chair from the room and to the truck. Theodore and Harold decided to drive their own vehicles to Dicky’s.
Rolland got in the truck and looked around to the bed. The big blue tarp had been anchored with the bloody chair. The arm of the chair was exposed, and displayed a bullet hole in the middle of a red-black splotch. Rolland turned his head forward and began driving. If someone had told him tonight he would be driving a dead body, he would have thought them mad. He was a retired Senator for God’s sake. Rolland took a deep breath. William Patterson was in the back of his truck. Dead. He looked at his reflection in the rearview mirror. He had to admit; tonight he looked like a criminal.
Ray’s chair squeaked as he leaned back and looked over at Pablo. Pablo, stretched out on the couch, opened one eye, “What?”
Ray said, “I didn’t want to wake you. Our sicko club loaded the body, and is heading for the swamp.”
Pablo rolled over, “Wake me up when we catch ‘em. I want to hear how they explain this.”
Ray called Agent Mass to make sure his GPS was picking up Tourey’s equipment. Mass answered his signal was coming through fine. They were stationed at Dicky’s, waiting for the club members to arrive.
Ray switched his screen to watch the money transfers from French Quarter Bank. He had told Roger it was like watching a video game. Actually it was better than a video game. He was watching some very large rats race to get in the trap.
The numbers were growing with every hour. It wasn’t even midnight yet, and the transactions now being moved were in excess of a billion dollars each. There were hundreds of them. Ray couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle.
Pablo didn’t move but asked, “What’s so funny?”
Ray answered, “Roger’s money sting is going to hit like an atomic bomb.”
Pablo moaned and held his shoulder as he rolled over to face Ray, “What money sting?”
Simon called Thor, “Was that another shot?”
Thor answered, “Yeah. Couple of punks out here thought I was the Rugaru. Tried to shoot me. They’re out here wanting to get its picture so they can sell it.”
Jeanne could hear Simon laughing through the phone from where she was standing. Toby and Junior sat at the bottom of the tree. Their heads rested against the trunk as they exchanged worried glances.
Thor asked, “What should I do with these guys? They got here by boat. One of them has a dad with a crab shack down the way.”
Simon still laughing answered, “Well, they did try to shoot a federal officer. Other than that, there’s no law against being stupid. Why don’t you write down their ID information and have them turn themselves in to the local cops. Let them decide if any charges are needed.”
Thor grunted okay and hung up. He looked at them both, “Which one of you had this idea in the first place?”
They pointed at each other. Thor frowned. Toby offered, “Might have been my idea to get a picture of the Rugaru, but Junior’s the one needs money.”
Thor looked at Junior, “What do you need the money for?”
Junior answered, “I wanna go to college next year.”
Thor turned around and looked at Jeanne who was smiling. He turned his palms up and shrugged to indicate he hadn’t expected college to be the answer.
Jeanne’s expression instantly changed, “Freeze.”
Thor froze, and Jeanne threw her knife at the tree trunk over Toby and Junior’s heads. A water moccasin dangled from her knife two feet above them, and then fell in two pieces to rest on their shoulders. They both jumped up screaming.
Thor walked over, retrieved Jeanne’s knife for her, and looked at the boys. “You get used to it. Look, I’m sending you back to town. Quit screaming! Turn yourselves in to the local cops. If you want my help explaining what happened out here, call the number on the card I gave you. Remember, you both promised to take a gun safety class and not to hunt the Rugaru anymore, right?”
Both kids were nodding.
Thor said, “Get out of here, and get out of this swamp.”
Spicey looked at Willie. “That be another gunshot! I think I heard people screamin’ too.”
Willie tilted his head, “Heard the gunshot. It did sound closer than before. Best we just stay calm and keep movin’.”
Sasha fisted her shawl under her chin, “Hic!”
Toby and Junior practically ran back to their boat. Thor and Jeanne chuckled about what the boy’s parents would do. Alan said, “Those boys not much older than mine at home. I guess I better have a talk with mine ‘bout not huntin’ in the swamp at night. I know Toby’s dad. He’s not gonna be too pleased about this.”
Thor noticed his GPS tracker alert was flashing. He looked at Jeanne, “They’re coming.”
Alan’s posture straightened, “Who’s comin’?” Alan realized nobody was going to answer him. “Sure would be nice to know who’s comin’.” Especially since he was in the middle of it all.
Thor said, “We can move in faster now. I want to be as close to Dicky’s dock as we can and still stay out of sight.”
Alan gave a hefty push. Jeanne pointed for Thor to look in the water. Three sets of red eyes peeked from the black water and watched as they floated by.
Jeanne was watching both the shores and the water for dangers. She noticed Alan looking around. “You’re lost.”
Thor frowned. Of course.
Alan answered, “How’d you know?”
“This is the second time we passed that cypress trunk with all the skulls nailed on it.”
Thor’s head whipped around. “Who nails skulls to tree trunks?”
Jeanne answered, “Hoodoo.”
Thor asked, “Don’t you mean Voodoo?”
Jeanne shook her head, “Think of Hoodoo as the black magic sister of Voodoo.”
Thor stared at her. She was serious. Holy crap.
Jeanne said, “Turn left up here through that little inlet.”
Alan did as Jeanne suggested, and the inlet opened to a wider waterway. Alan said, “This looks right now.”
Jeanne put her hand up for quiet. They heard it at the same time. A loud, high pitched chirp. It cut through the other sounds of the swamp. It wasn’t a normal swamp sound. They listened and heard it again, this time louder. The swamp sounds silenced. Jeanne glanced at Thor, and they both raised their weapons.
Their boat edged around a peninsula and practically ran into the boat with Willie, Sasha and Spicey on board. Sasha and Spicey screamed. Willie crossed himself and kissed his amulet.
Thor yelled, “FBI. Identify yourselves.” Jeanne had her gun pointed at them, and Alan had thrown himself on the bottom of the boat.
Thor looked at Spicey, “Aren’t you that Voodoo lady?”
Spicey had her hands in the air, “Yes sir.”
Jeanne and Thor holstered their guns. Thor asked, “What are you doing out here?”
Spicey answered, “The Spirits want me at a meetin’ at Mambo’s at midnight.”
Thor looked at Jeanne. This Mambo shit was her expertise. Jeanne looked at Willie, “Are you sure you know how to get there?”
Willie nodded his head. Thor asked, “Are you armed?”
Spicey, Sasha and Willie all raised pistols. “Crap! Just answer the question. Don’t pull guns out when a cop is talking to you!” Thor shook his head. Everybody in this city was packin’ and crazy.
Jeanne looked at Spicey, “Why did Mambo call a meeting?”
Spicey shook her head, “All I know is a Spirit came to me today and said Mambo wanted me there at midnight. Willie here just makin’ sure we get there alright.”
Jeanne handed Spicey a card. “I’m a friend of Mambo’s too. If you need me, please call.”
Sasha hiccupped. Jeanne smiled at Thor
. That was the sound.
Thor exhaled, “You better get going.”
Jeanne looked at Willie, “Watch out for the river rats. I’ve been seeing them tonight all along the banks. They move fast, swim, and they have a vicious bite. When you get to Mambo’s you had better shoot them. They won’t be afraid of you, and might attack. Depends how hungry they are. Some look about ten pounds and they are blending in with the shore. I think I heard they feed at night. They have the bright yellow eyes.”
Spicey gasped. She had been so busy looking for gators she forgot about the river rats.
Willie pushed his pole in the muck, said thanks, and maneuvered their boat to pass by. Spicey rubbed her amulet and she rocked on her crate seat, and Sasha hiccupped as they disappeared into the mist.
Alan stood up and grabbed the pole to get them moving again. “You sure ‘bout them river rats? I ain’t seen any.”
Jeanne pointed, “There’s one on the bank looking at you now.”
Alan whipped around. The ugly varmint hissed at them, long rodent fangs exposed, bright yellow eyes reflecting the moonlight like lasers. Alan yelped.
As their boat glided along towards Dicky’s, Alan said, “I never realized how busy the swamp was at night.”
Thor muttered, “Party’s not even ‘til midnight.”
Thor sat on a crate and watched blood red eyes in the black water follow them. The swamp noises were deafening. Jeanne was standing at the front of the boat. Her pose reminded him of some warrior statue in a park. It was her perfect posture, and she held her chin a little high. She was right about the swamp. It was a creepy place at night. Thor slapped a mosquito on his neck and exhaled. He checked his GPS. They needed to hurry.
Ellen asked us to concentrate on finding Chiclet’s building. She said that Abram had told Roger the names of the other kidnappers were probably in Chiclet’s computer. Roger needed those names to locate the children that had been abducted so they could be saved.
Silent Crickets: A Shallow End Gals, Trilogy Book Three Page 14
