The voice replied, “Well, you were the smart one. You were the only one who wanted to listen to me, and now look. They are all dead, and you are still here in line to disappear and head for the hills.” the voice continued, “But there is more work to be done. Once this wave of killing starts over the next 24 hours, the FBI will take over the entire case for sure. What’s the first thing you are going to do with your share?” the voice asked.
Phil answered right away. “I want to get myself to Las Vegas and disappear. No one cares who you are there, as long as you have money. I want to stay at Caesar’s Palace, move over to the Bellagio for a few days, head over to the Venetian for a bit, and then even go downtown for a bit.”
“So what’s your plan?” the voice asked. “To blow your share in a week?”
Phil laughed and said, “No, maybe a few weeks. I won’t have a long life anyway. Our plan was to get much more money for the ransom, but I made the mistake of letting John Winters run the show.”
“That’s right,” the voice answered. “All of you should have listened to me from the beginning.”
“Well,” Phil said, “you have to admit it was a little difficult to realize we could trust you.”
“And now,” the voice said, “you are the only one left alive as well as the three guys who will meet you tomorrow. They have been listening to me the past year.”
“OK, OK,” Phil answered. “I understand.”
The voice replied, “They will be your contacts from now on. When this is over and we have the cash, you will be sent instructions on where to meet. Good Luck. I almost wish you could take a video of some of this. Ha! Ha!”
Phil moved the phone away from his ear to look at it from a distance with a puzzled look on his face.
“You are a little crazy, aren’t you?” Phil replied.
“We all are, don’t you think?” the voice asked. “See you in a couple days or on the other side.” The phone went click.
That’s comforting, Phil thought to himself as the man who was the voice to Phil on the phone call checked the battery life left on his disposable phone. He was thinking that Phil was right about one thing, and that was that he would not have a long life. He would make sure of it. The man who was the voice considered Phil a liability that could no longer be afforded. He had already instructed his three messengers to take care of Phil Smith once the task at hand was completed.
Kevin Cronin picked up the call from Assistant District Attorney Ashley asking him if he really was going to skip the arraignment, and the detective lieutenant told him he thought from a national news point of view, it would be best if he wasn’t around. He also told him Detective Bud Johnson would be at the arraignment. The assistant district attorney accepted his answer and said he would stop by later, and maybe the two of them would get a drink. Cronin disconnected the call, thinking maybe he should have that drink before the Long Island Pulse released the interview the next day. It might be his last chance, he thought.
He called Gina in to have her find out where everyone was. “Everyone” meaning the team assigned to this case. That included the four additional officers that would be stationed outside the Wilkersons’ house on Bell Circle in the cruisers, so Healey could be with Lindsey on a 24-hour basis inside and outside the house.
Within five minutes, Gina gave him the locations of everyone on the case. He looked at it and then asked Gina for the number to Sherry at the hospital and Rachelle Robinson’s home phone number. He called both and spoke to each of them for about five minutes before disconnecting and turning on the television again in his office.
It was a short day for Lindsey at school. Her advanced class teacher was ill, and she got the OK to study at home. The principal was not about to resist considering her academic skills and the whole “escort thing.” While he thought it was much better Officer Healey was now wearing civilian clothes, he was concerned over the distraction of the students.
As Lindsey was walking to the car with Healey, it was simply too intimidating for most of the girls and all of the boys to approach Lindsey with Healey’s stare-down as they got close to her. He opened the car’s passenger door for her and then jogged around the front into the driver’s seat. Healey had her at her house within 10 minutes.
As she got out of the car, he asked her to hold up while he got a suitcase of his belongings out of the trunk. He waved to Officer Chapman sitting in the cruiser with a cup of coffee. As they entered the house, Monty came running up to greet Lindsey and wouldn’t let her greet her parents. Lindsey’s father told Officer Healey he would show him his sleeping quarters and Lindsey’s room.
Healey was sometimes considered extreme, but in this particular case he did not care. He told the father the doors must be locked and Lindsey was not to go outside the house while she was out of his sight. The house was to be locked at all times, day and night. Healey noticed the windows were already closed and locked for the air conditioning.
When they reached the top of the stairs, Mr. Wilkerson showed Healey Lindsey’s room. He walked in and looked at the photos she had on the wall. On one side there was mathematicans, Archimedes, Einstein, Robert Osserman, and famous historical women mathematicians, Sophie Germain, Hypatia, Ada Lovelace. On the other side the musical groups the Strokes, the Killers, 3oh3, and Muse. Interesting, he thought. Who the hell is Robert Osserman? She is 12 years old on one side of the room, and a genius on the other side.
He laughed as he looked out her window, which was above the front lawn, and he could see the cruiser parked on the road. Her dad, Walter, then showed him the room he would be using, which was the guest room. It was convenient and next door, with a private bathroom. He told Walter that Lindsey should be in the guest bedroom so she would not have to go into the hallway to use the bathroom. If she balked at the idea, then the officer asked him for a cot to be used in the hallway outside her door. He would only be a certain distance from her, to where he could hear anything, and the cot would allow him to be within a foot of her door yet still give her privacy. In addition, if she had to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, it would awaken him and he would stay awake until she was back in her room.
Lindsey told her dad she wanted to stay in her own room, which meant they had to pull a cot they had from the attic for Healey to use during the overnight hours. Justin Healey unpacked his clothes in the guest room and went back downstairs as Lindsey’s mom prepared a late lunch.
Healey received a call from Officer Chapman that Bud was on his way to the front door. Lindsey greeted him with a huge hug, as did Monty.
“Boy,” Bud said, “this is such a great welcome.”
“You’re just in time for lunch,” Mrs. Wilkerson said.
“Oh, wow, thank you. I love to eat,” Bud replied. “I just came to speak to Officer Healey about today.”
“You have to eat your lunch!” Lindsey said.
“Actually, this is perfect,” her father said. “Sharyn and I have to go down to BJ’s Wholesale Club to pick up a few things with our additional guest, and you guys can have lunch with Lindsey until we get back.”
“Sure, Mr. Wilkerson,” Bud replied.
“Please, call me Walter.”
“Thank you,” Bud answered.
They were gone within five minutes as the three of them sat down with the lunch of sandwiches and salad Sharyn Wilkerson had left for them.
“How did the day go?” Bud asked, looking at them.
“Smooth day,” Healey said. “School, no problems, Paul stopped in to go over the schedule of officers outside.”
Bud nodded and said, “Good, good. So you had a chance to speak with Detective Powers for a change.”
“Yes,” Lindsey answered. “He’s a very nice man, and I must say he’s very handsome.”
“Hey, now,” Bud replied. “You’re 12 years old. What do you know about being handsome?”
She laughed and said, “You�
��re a funny guy, Detective Johnson.”
“Yes,” he said with a smile. “That’s what they tell me.” Bud remembered that Lindsey would not volunteer information, so he was thinking about the next question for her.
“Did Paul ask you any questions?”
“Yes,” Lindsey answered, “he asked me five questions.”
Bud nodded and said, “Five questions. Could you tell me the questions he asked you?”
Lindsey replied, “In order or random?”
Bud tilted his head and asked, “Are you showing off right now with me?”
Lindsey laughed and said, “OK, I’ll tell you in order. First question: 'You’re pretty smart, aren’t you?’ Second question: 'Who do you think the smartest person in the world is, Lindsey?’ Third question: 'When we have more time, will you tell me more about him?’ Fourth question: Lindsey, the photo Detective Cronin showed you at the car, you remember, right?’ Fifth question: 'Can you draw me a sketch of who the person was?’ These were the questions in order, Detective Johnson.”
Bud stared at her in amazed silence as he said, “Lindsey, that’s great. When you finish the sketch, I want you to show it to Officer Healey first so we can save time and he can call both myself and Detective Powers.”
“OK,” she replied.
Once again, Bud remembered the first time he had met Lindsey. She could remember everything, but she would not volunteer information or process what is important to say if she wasn’t directly asked.
“Lindsey,” Bud said, “did you see Allan get shot?”
He saw the girl start trembling, so he took her hand.
“It’s all right, please tell me.”
“Yes,” she said.
“You never told anyone?” Bud said as a tear rolled down her cheek, her voice trembling.
“No one asked me.” Bud looked up at Justin Healey, who promptly started checking the ammunition levels of his gun.
“Tell us what happened,” Bud said. As Lindsey began to talk, the detective sent a text to Gina to get with Cronin and have Paul be at the arraignment, that there had been a development with Lindsey. He wrote, “She is safe, but we may have to increase security.”
Lindsey spoke, saying, “I was going to school late so I walked over to see Allan. He was so nice to me and he told me how much the two of you loved my cookies.”
“Yes,” Bud said, “go on.”
“We were playing checkers, and I was making him laugh by showing him eight moves in advance if I was going to win, and then...” The young girl started to stutter.
“It’s OK,” Bud said, “we are here.”
And then she continued, “Allan looked up and saw someone running toward the front door. He said, 'Quick! Hide! Don’t say a word, no matter what happens.’ I crawled inside the opening of the desk, and he slid his chair with his legs into the desk opening, totally hiding me. The man came in and said, 'Where is the girl? Where is the girl? Where is the girl?’ Three times.”
As Lindsey started to cry, Bud squeezed her hand as Healey started looking out the windows. Finally she spoke again, saying, “'She just left to bake me more cookies,’ Allan told him. Then the man shot him in the head, looked around, and went to the video monitor. He took the recording and shot the machine. Then he said, 'Come out, come out, wherever you are.’ I was having trouble breathing without making noise, but he finally left. I waited another 10 minutes before I could move.”
“Then what?” Bud asked.
“I got up and had to push Allan’s chair out a bit so I could get out. I put my hand on his face and I said I was sorry to him, and I...I kissed the side of his head and began to run home. I was afraid if the man saw me he would shoot me and my dog.”
“Wait,” Bud said, “why your dog?”
“Well,” she said, “he took my dog and shot Allan. Why wouldn’t he shoot my dog?”
Bud could see Healey was getting more and more antsy as her story unfolded.
“Lindsey,” Bud said, “did you see the man’s face?”
“No,” she answered. “But it was the man who took Monty. I remember voices as well as images and numbers.” Bud looked up at Healey as Lindsey spoke again.
“I have to use the bathroom, Officer Healey.”
“Go ahead, Lindsey,” he said as she walked into the bathroom and shut the door.
Justin Healey started talking right away to Bud, saying, “We need another person here, and I want a shotgun to have in the house, and I assume the cruiser outside has a shotgun.”
There was no objection from Bud as he started to make a call to the precinct. He had hung up by the time Lindsey came back to the table.
“So,” Bud said, “the man in the sketch you are going to draw for Detective Powers. Is it the man who shot Allan?”
“No,” Lindsey said.
“Had you ever seen the man before?” Bud asked. “Can you draw the sketch now?”
“I’m sorry,” she replied. “I’m too tired, and it won’t be good if I do it now, but yes I have seen the man before, which I told Detective Cronin.”
“OK, OK,” Bud said.
Officer Healey spoke up, saying, “I’m going outside to speak with Franks. He’s back from his break, and I want to bring both Chapman and him up to date while they are here. I’ll call Dugan after I’m finished speaking with them.”
Bud nodded as Lindsey spoke to Healey in a nervous tone, asking, “Where are you going?”
He came back to her and kneeled, saying, “Listen, honey, I have to bring the other officers the new information so everyone understands how serious this is. You understand, right? Detective Johnson is not going anywhere ’til I get back. I will only be in the front yard.”
“OK,” she replied with a smile. As the front door shut, Bud looked at Lindsey looking at the empty space by the door.
“You like Officer Healey, don’t you?”
“Yes,” she replied. “He’s a good protector; I trust him.”
“Yes,” Bud answered. “He’s a good cop and a good protector. So when Paul asked you who the smartest person was in the world, who did you answer?”
A smile came back on her face, and she said, “I told him Christopher Langan, his IQ is very high..”
“Ahh, he must be Irish. So tell me,” Bud said, “does the smartest person in the world believe in God?” The question surprised Lindsey, but she was up to the challenge.
“Well,” she said, “Christopher Langan has been quoted as saying that he believes in the theory, which means he believes that evolution including the principle of natural selection is one of the tools used by God to create mankind. He believes that there is a level on which science and religious metaphor are mutually compatible.”
Lindsey went on that when she went to his website that Christopher Langan wrote, quote, “since biblical accounts of the genesis of our world and species are true but metaphorical, our task is to correctly decipher the metaphor in light of scientific evidence also given to us by God.”
Bud asked, “And when did you visit his website?”
“March 6, 2010,” She answered.
“Are you sure?” Bud teased her.
“No doubt in my mind,” she laughed.
“You, Lindsey,” Bud asked. “Do you believe in God?”
“I believe there is a superior being that is connected to our source of knowledge. Our soul or being spiritual is what makes us whole. When I think about what causes high tide and low tide of the ocean each day, it makes me think there is a God that gives us the knowledge as to why these things happen. When the Earth rotates 180 degrees in 12 hours and the moon meanwhile rotates six degrees around the Earth in 12 hours. It helps with my faith that someone is the director.”
Healey walked in as Bud was telling Lindsey what an amazing girl she was as well as a baker. Bud excused himself and walked over to Healey and said, “The extra shotgun will be s
ent with Dugan tonight. That way you have one in the cruiser and one in the house. I assume you are qualified?” Healey shot him a look with cross-eyes.
“Yeah, I guess you are,” Bud said.
“OK,” Healey said. “But we should have someone from emergency service with an MP5 over here.”
“If,” Bud replied, “we knew for certain they were going to make an attempt, yes, but let me discuss it further with Cronin. Listen,” Bud continued, “I will come over tonight for a few hours, then Paul will relieve me or we both will be here for about six hours so you can get some shuteye. Tomorrow night we will work something out, maybe even bring Dugan in the house so you can get some sleep during the night.” Healey nodded.
An MP5 is a select switch-type machine gun that has one bullet round, three bullet rounds, and a setting for a full-round burst, and Bud was not sure if they would want a weapon like that in a residential home.
“You won’t be alone, Justin. I know this changes a few things, but what the hell? Between Sherry, Rachelle, and now Lindsey, the taxpayers have a heavy cost with this one.” Healey looked over at Lindsey at the kitchen table then back at Bud.
“I’ve been doing this a long time, I’m worried about who we are dealing with here. This is not going to be pretty, I feel it.”
Lindsey interrupted them, saying, “I also am very good at hearing.”
Bud turned around and asked the girl, “Is there anything you can’t do?”
“Yes,” she replied. “I can’t swim. I’m afraid of the water.”
“Well,” Bud answered, “I’m sure you could write a thesis on the scientific reasons why you can’t swim.”
Lindsey gave him a face and answered, “I’d rather write the scientific reasons why a plane should not be able to fly based on the way they are built,” and she stuck her tongue out.
“Ah,” Bud said, “we are going to have to have that discussion later before I fly to Los Angeles next month. Until then, can you go in the bathroom for a few minutes and turn on the fan. This is serious police business.”
The Face of Fear: A Powers and Johnson Novel Page 40
