by Bryan Cohen
Chapter 24
Deputy Daly thought he was in the clear. After all, he hadn't heard anything about the case for a solid week. He'd been precise. He had an alibi. Everything was back on track in his life until he saw Erica at the start of his shift.
"What the heck is – what's that girl doing here?" he asked.
Grayson peaked up from his paperwork.
"Oh, her? That's a great question," Grayson said. "Maybe she's a pint-sized psychic helping Sheriff Norris with the investigation. I wouldn't be surprised, given how many weird things have been happening."
The deputy feared the worst when he watched her talking to the sheriff. She was beautiful, focused and very much alive. He remembered the first time he saw her, sporting a very fake ID at a club across town. He was the one who helped her get a more legitimate fake. The last time he saw her was at the bottom of a six-foot hole. He felt a bead of sweat drip down the side of his temple.
"I thought she was either long gone or…"
"A goner," Grayson said. "I would've started a pool if it wasn't completely in bad taste."
Daly thought back to his tumultuous relationship with Erica. At first, he made sure things were hands-off. He bought her booze and helped to get her out of jams. One night, she came over to his apartment and changed everything. He blamed her for forcing her way into his life.
She made me do what I had to do.
Deputy Daly thanked Grayson and walked over to his desk. He had a stack of papers to deal with, but there was no chance of concentrating today. When Erica passed by, he turned his chair around to have his back face her. She didn't pause and continued on her way out of the building. He turned around and watched her as she exited.
"She's my poison," he said.
The deputy expected the blow would come quickly. He saw it in his mind. The sheriff and another officer would cuff him and throw him into the holding cell. He'd be sentenced for assault, endangering a minor and a host of other crimes. He might make it out in 20 years if he didn't die in prison. Only nobody came over and cuffed him. The rest of the afternoon went by like nothing happened. With a few minutes left in the sheriff's shift, the deputy decided to walk into his boss' office.
The two of them had a decent relationship since the deputy had arrived in town a few years back. The sheriff appreciated the way he ran the night shift and said Daly left the place in better condition than when he'd last seen it. Deputy Daly wished he did the same with his social life. He knocked on the open door.
"Sheriff, mind if I come in?"
"Daly. Sure, actually, I'd love your opinion on something."
The sheriff motioned for his deputy to sit. Daly couldn't tell if it was a trap or not. After all, his boss had spoken with the girl he thought he'd killed.
"Come on, sit," the sheriff said.
The deputy stopped hesitating and sat down. Sheriff Norris passed him a file across the desk.
"What's this?"
"A homicide case from a few hours ago. It's in the next county over, but they sent a file over just in case."
The deputy opened the file.
"A man died, came back to life, strangled a nurse to death and ran out faster than anyone had ever seen."
The sheriff gave him a second to glance it over. Daly swallowed his sigh of relief. He didn't know what he would have said if Erica had been mentioned.
"This Stucky. Isn't he related to–"
"They're brothers."
Deputy Daly didn't care much about solving the case. He just wanted to know if Erica came back to life the same way this guy had.
"Mind if I give Ted Finley a call about this?"
"Be my guest, deputy. I'm about ready to go home for the day. Let me know if you find out anything interesting."
The deputy stood up.
"Sir, if you don't mind me asking. Why was the girl here?"
The sheriff's answer would be the ultimate test of just how many tracks he'd need to cover up.
"She has insider knowledge of the diner case. You can't leave any stone unturned, deputy."
"Yes sir."
Deputy Daly knew he was safe. As he sat down at his desk, he had no intention of calling Ted Finley. He'd noticed something the sheriff hadn't on the report. Stucky's medical chart from when he entered the hospital noted a strange tattoo on his right arm. It wasn't mentioned in the case report. Deputy Daly knew where he could find four similar tattoos just a couple of rooms away. He waited until the sheriff went home before he approached the holding cell. Grayson and the others in the office were scared of Nigel. Deputy Daly thought he was intriguing.
"How does somebody come back from the dead?" he asked.
Nigel had been lying down on the bench, but he rose slowly and looked the deputy right in the eyes. The crook's grin was unsettling.
"That's the first good question I've heard all day."
The deputy watched Nigel as he walked toward the bars of the gate. Daly figured it took a special kind of person to try to kill several dozen people.
"You were going to kill those people and bring them all back, like your friend at the hospital."
Nigel clapped his hands together three times.
"I must commend you, deputy. You're really thinking outside the box. Where are the comment cards? I'd like to recommend you for a promotion."
The deputy smirked.
"I don't think they'd trust you with the pencil."
"A pity," Nigel said.
There was more the deputy needed to know.
"How do you know the girl?"
Nigel's grin grew wider. He really was enjoying this.
"She's not a girl. Nor is she a boy. She's much like you. A jail keeper for a broken system."
"She was dead. You're saying she's someone else now?"
Nigel was about to answer when he heard a noise outside. It sounded like squealing rubber. The deputy noticed it too.
"I'm sorry, deputy. I'd tell you more, but my ride is here."
The next few seconds seemed to take an eternity. First, a massive truck slammed through the front doors of the building and sent glass, wood and paper in every direction. At the same time, Nigel and Tank gripped the gate of the cell and tore it from its hinges. They tossed it onto the deputy, who couldn’t handle the weight and landed hard on his back. The gate they'd ripped off so easily was too much for the deputy to lift on his own. He struggled to push it off his chest so he could breathe. The deputy couldn't see the gunfight taking place in the other room, but he could hear it. Just like he heard the groans of his co-workers as they were tossed across the room like rag dolls. The deputy was able to get enough leverage to roll himself to one side. As he did, he saw Nigel and the other thugs get into the truck. He recognized the driver from his mug shot in the file folder. Stucky waved at the deputy as he backed the car out of the precinct.
He marveled at the state of the office as he tried to get himself free of the heavy gate.
