“And how do we get into his car?” he asked.
“I watched him when he put the gun under the seat and closed the door. It’s an older car with no remote door locks. He didn’t lock it,” Jenny replied.
Dom closed his eyes for a moment. “Well I can’t exactly say I like the idea a whole lot, but you’re right. I think we need the gun just in case. Let’s just not get caught, okay?”
“Deal,” Jenny said.
After they put the groceries away in various spots of the Jeep and iced down the cold stuff in the ice chest, Dom drove back to the Walmart parking lot and Jenny directed him to the area where the car was. It was still there. Luck must have been shining on them, because the space next to the car was empty. He pulled into the spot and shut off the engine. He didn’t want to attract any attention.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled eight hundred dollars from what was left and handed it to Jenny. They hadn’t discussed it, but both of them knew that Jenny would be the one to make the switch. The driver’s door to the car was next to Jenny’s door.
After sitting for a moment as they watched a car back out of a space nearby, all looked clear and Jenny quickly climbed out of the Jeep and opened the car door. Reaching under the car seat, she pulled something out and stuck it in the front of her pants. Then she took the money out of her pocket and stuck it under the seat. Jenny closed the door quickly and hopped back into the Jeep.
Looking around one more time, Dom backed out of the spot and headed out of the parking lot, passing by the front of the store in the process.
“Oh my God!” Jenny exclaimed, slightly hiding her face.
“What?”
“That’s the guy that owns the car! Shit!”
Dom muttered under his breath as he gunned the Jeep. The man could not know that they had his gun. He wasn’t even looking at them and he appeared to be in no hurry. Dom turned down the highway in the direction that Jenny instructed.
Another close call. It was something that he figured they better get used to.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Kent Perry pushed the side door to Dominick Maxwell’s house open and walked inside. It took his eyes a few seconds to adjust to the dim light, but when they did, he discovered that he was indeed in the master bedroom.
The bedroom was in very neat condition. He went into the hallway and headed into the front part of the house. Passing through the living room, dining room and kitchen, Kent noticed how neat and clean each room was. Surprising for a bachelor.
The first thing that he wanted to see was whether or not there was a vehicle in the garage. Probably not, but he had to check. Kent was surprised when he opened the door leading to the garage and saw a Toyota truck sitting there. Maybe it was a second vehicle. Chances were that Maxwell did not take off without a vehicle.
Kent searched the vehicle thoroughly and didn’t find anything interesting. He copied down the license plate number and the vehicle identification number and after quickly looking through the garage, Kent re-entered the house.
Hoping to either come up with a clue to Dom’s whereabouts, or a clue linking him to the attempted murder of Nina Dyer, Kent quickly searched the whole house. There was nothing. The only benefit he got from searching the house was finding the vehicle. It did not look like any of Dom’s clothes were missing and there was luggage sitting in the closet. Even Dom’s toothbrush was still in the bathroom.
“Hell,” Kent muttered to himself. “He just friggin’ disappeared.” After making sure that everything was as he found it, Kent left the house by the front door and pulled it shut behind him.
After returning to his car, he called Pete Stamsford on his cell phone. Pete answered the call.
“Hey Pete, could you run a plate for me? It’s an Arizona plate, LMF-963. The vehicle is a 2010 Toyota Tacoma truck. Find out who it’s registered to, and if it’s registered to Maxwell, find out if that’s the only vehicle registered to him. Do you have anything for me yet?”
“A little bit, Kent. Maxwell works at a place called ‘High Tech’ on Seventy-Fifth Avenue. His boss says that Maxwell called him up this morning, asking him for some time off. Basically, he took a leave of absence. The only information that Maxwell gave him was about what happened to his sister and he said that was why he needed the time off.”
“Interesting,” Kent said. “Let me know when you get something else.”
“Will do. I’ll be talking to ya.”
Kent Perry started his car and backed out of the driveway, thoughts racing through his head. Had Dominick Maxwell killed his sister and left, planning on staying away until the heat was off? Did he think that the police wouldn’t suspect him? He sure seemed to have disappeared without a trace.
These were not the signs of a person going on a trip. These were the signs of total disappearance. These were the signs of someone going into hiding. Sooner or later, they would find Maxwell and then there would be hell to pay. And pay, he would.
Kent Perry spent the remainder of the day looking for anything he could use against Maxwell. He would either prove his innocence, or prove his guilt, but one way or another, he was going to find him.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Jenny directed Dom down various highways past the outskirts of Prescott and towards Chino Valley. They kept their eyes open for a place to buy ammo, but they hadn’t passed anything and they were not going to go back to Walmart and buy ammo for the stolen gun. They decided to keep looking as they drove. He could not get over how pretty the area was with the high mountains and the tall pine trees. He was in awe when they passed a lake and, minutes later, passed between huge thirty-foot-tall mountains of granite boulders outlining the sides of the road. To put the road where it was, someone obviously had to blast the granite away. It looked like it had been no easy task.
“I sure didn’t know what I was missing by not coming up to the northern part of Arizona,” Dom said. “I can’t believe the diversity of the area as we pass from one mile to the next.”
“It is pretty,” Jenny agreed. “Wait until you see Chino Valley.”
As they continued down the highway, he watched the scenery turn to flat land with tall weeds and scrub brush. As they entered Chino Valley, it turned to farmland.
“Wow, this is totally different,” Dom remarked. “It looks like farms and ranches.”
“Yeah, it’s way different from the pine trees. We have to go through here to get where we are going.”
The highway, which cut straight through the center of town, was bordered by businesses. The side streets seemed to be mostly dirt roads with sparsely placed country houses and barns dotting the plains.
“It sure doesn’t do anything for me,” he said. “Could we stop at a place with a bathroom though? I gotta go!”
Jenny pointed out a mini-mart off to the right.
Dom stopped at the mini-mart and went inside and used the bathroom. He came out to find Jenny filling the Jeep with gas.
“I thought we better fill it now because there are no gas stations where we are going.”
“Good idea. I knew I brought you along for something!”
Jenny smiled and said, “Are you sure it’s not my looks you brought me along for?”
“That too,” he returned. “Just one of the fringe benefits of having you along.”
As soon as Jenny was done pumping the gas and after Dom had gone back in to pay for it, they got into the Jeep. They both decided it was Jenny’s turn to drive since he was getting tired and because Jenny knew where they were going and Dom didn’t.
As she started the engine, Dom turned towards her. “I asked the clerk inside if there was any type of gun shop around here and they told me there’s a place called ‘The Gun Stop’ up the road a little bit on one of the side roads. Let’s stop there and get some ammo.”
“Thanks for thinking of that. We will be leaving the highway in about ten minutes, so this is the place to do it.”
Jenny put the Jeep in gear and pulled out of t
he parking lot. It was coming up on 5:00 P.M. and they only had about two and a half hours before it got dark. It would take over an hour and a half to get to where they were going, so that didn’t leave much time to set up camp.
Dom was kind of surprised that Jenny knew how to drive a stick shift. A lot of people he knew didn’t know how to drive one. She drove it well, too. In fact, she was kind of a speed demon, but she handled the Jeep like a pro.
He directed Jenny on where to go to get to the gun shop. As she turned onto Road 3 North, Dom pulled the gun out to inspect it. It was a Glock 9mm. He slid the gun under the seat as Jenny pulled into the parking lot. They got out and walked inside, but it looked like the store employees were getting ready to close up shop.
“Is it too late to buy ammo?” she asked.
The person behind the counter smiled. “We are closing in a few, but if you just need to make a quick purchase, we can accommodate you.”
“We would like four boxes of 9mm shells.”
“What will you be using them for?”
Jenny turned towards Dom and raised an eyebrow.
Dom spoke up. “I’m not sure what the major differences are, however we need two boxes for target practice and two for protection.”
The store employee made some recommendations on the cartridges he liked the best and Dom and Jenny went along with his selection. He rang up the purchase and Dom paid for it. After thanking the clerk, they walked out to the Jeep.
Jenny climbed back into the driver’s seat and they headed back to the highway.
“We have to make some time, or we’ll have very little light left,” she informed him. “It’s a very slow-moving road and there is a lot of rough terrain. In some spots, you have to go one to two miles per hour.”
Jenny drove down the highway for about ten minutes and turned off onto a side road. The road was dirt and there were five or six houses that lined the road, but then it turned into open country and brush. Civilization disappeared behind them in much the same way as the sun was leaving them, slowly but surely.
After what seemed like a very long ways out, but was really only about five miles, Jenny turned off the dirt road and on to a rough dirt pathway that made its way into the wilderness. Half a mile down the road, they came to a gate and Dom got out and opened it, closing it after Jenny had driven through it. The gate was designed to keep the landowner’s cattle from straying off of the property, and to allow people to cross the property to get to the river. The landowners didn’t care if people drove on the land as long as they shut the gate behind them.
From the gate, Jenny followed the rough, rocky road for many miles, over hills, forks in the road, steep declines, jagged rock, and towards the end, a few dry creek beds. Dom counted his blessings that he’d thought to purchase a Jeep.
When they finally reached the river, the sun was low in the sky, but they still had a little light left. The area was beautiful. The water was very clear. In some places, it ran along in a narrow channel; in others, it was wide and shallow. Along one section of the river, steep cliffs rose up above the water with what appeared to be holes, or small caves, in the side of the cliff wall.
Dom saw nothing but beauty in every direction he looked. Jenny had to drive the Jeep across the river three times to stay on the four-wheel drive path they were following. They would be driving on one side of the river and then the river would flow right up against the base of the cliff and they would have to change sides. Dom thought it was perfect.
Jenny broke the silence. “It’s perfect, isn’t it?”
He smiled. “Funny, I was thinking the same thing. Does anybody ever come down here?”
“Mostly during the weekends. But if you like, when the weekend is approaching, we can go further downriver to a place that even the weekenders rarely go.”
Jenny pulled the Jeep up to the base of a fifty-foot-high natural rock wall and turned off the engine. The river turned and cut in front of where they were parked. Off to the left were three huge trees covering a sandy area. Behind them, a little further back from the rock wall, the hillside sloped up hundreds of feet to the top of the mountain that overhung the valley they were in. No wonder it took so long to get down here, Dom thought.
“This is where we stop,” she said. “This is the spot that Daddy used to bring me when I was a little girl. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Very,” Dom said, looking around in awe. “I guess we better get camp set up.”
Jenny agreed. He wasn’t surprised to see that Jenny knew exactly what she was doing when it came to setting up the tent, the stove, and everything else they needed. It was getting dark as they finished, but they had prepared for that by setting the lantern up first.
“Dom, why don’t you start a fire while I cook us something to eat?” she suggested.
“Sounds great to me. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until now. By the way, are you trying to tell me that you can cook too?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Jenny said.
“You’re too good to be true, Jenny! What’s wrong with you that no one else has scooped you up yet?”
“Well,” Jenny playfully teased, “I have a crack in my butt!”
Dom couldn’t keep from breaking into a fit of laughter. When he could stop laughing enough to talk, he wiped the tears away from his eyes and was finally able to join in the conversation again. “I guess that would explain it,” he said, trying to not start laughing all over again. “Under normal circumstances, I might hightail it after finding out about your one and only fault, but since I kind of like you, I’ll just pick up some Bondo the next time we’re in town and we’ll take care of that nasty ole crack of yours!”
It was Jenny’s turn to laugh uncontrollably this time. “Touché, Dom! You’re a riot! Now start the fire before I decide to burn your dinner!”
Dom took a flashlight and gathered some lose wood that was lying around on the ground. Luckily, there was a fire ring built there already by previous campers, and possibly even Jenny’s father. After positioning the logs and starting the fire, he heard Jenny calling him over to eat dinner. He joined her to find a nice but simple dinner of cheeseburgers, potato chips, and potato salad that was obviously from the deli department at the grocery store, and of course, a Mountain Dew to top it all off.
They sat together on the ice chest, by the fire, and enjoyed dinner without saying a word. The moon was half-full and the sky was, without any of the city pollution, crystal clear. The stars were plainly visible and offered a spectacular view. Without talking for the longest time, Dom and Jenny sat and stared up at the stars. This was the first time that they had been able to relax all day long and it wasn’t until they had stopped moving that they realized how tired they actually were.
Jenny went to the Jeep and turned on the radio, tuning it to the only station that would come in down by the river. A rock ballad was playing.
“Do you want to dance, Handsome?” Jenny asked, snuggling up close to him.
“I would love to, Jenny.”
He took her hand and led her closer to the fire and slid his arms around her. For the longest time, they just stared into each other’s eyes, both experiencing something new to them. Dom could see the reflection of the fire dancing in Jenny’s eyes. As he danced with her, he wondered how he could have missed out on this feeling for his entire life.
After they had danced for a couple of songs, Dom could tell Jenny was tired and he was also fighting to stay awake. He grabbed her hand and led her into the tent. They unzipped their sleeping bags and stretched them out in the tent and laid down on the air mattress. Jenny laid her head on Dom’s chest and cuddled close. He stroked her hair softly and before long, he heard her breathing heavy and knew she was asleep. Dom thought about the stark contrast between what happened to Nina and the joy of him meeting Jenny. It seemed like a surreal dream. As he went over the events of the past day in his head, he had no idea what he was doing or what he would do next. As he slipped deep in
to slumber himself, he was just grateful that Jenny was by his side.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The next morning, Kent Perry drove to the police station and went to his desk on the third floor. This floor was mostly reserved for the plainclothes detectives. The first floor was where criminals were booked and where the holding cells were. The second floor housed the office of the Chief of Police and this was also where most of the uniformed officers checked in.
Pausing quickly to check his ‘in’ box, he found a message from Pete Stamsford asking him to come downstairs when he could. The message explained that he had acquired more information about Dominick Maxwell.
Before going down to the second floor, Kent headed to the third floor lunchroom and poured himself a cup of coffee. He drank his coffee black, because it had a very strong taste to him and he wanted to stay alert. Cream and sugar made it too flavorful. It was too relaxing. Something that Kent didn’t do often.
After returning to his desk, Kent opened the bottom drawer and pulled out a half-empty pack of Marlboro cigarettes and lit one. The building was, of course, a non-smoking building, but at this point, he really didn’t care. Kent didn’t smoke often anymore anyway. He used to smoke a pack a day, but one day, he had had enough of the smoke, the smell, and the coughing. He still kept a pack around, but usually only lit up when he was working on a real stressor of a case. The last cigarette he had smoked was about a month before. Kent didn’t feel that the chances of dying from lung cancer were that great when he only smoked about a pack a year now. Chances were, he would get killed in the line of duty first. Either way, he figured that everybody had to die sometime.
Kent had always heard that there were only two things you had to do in life. Die and pay taxes. He didn’t agree with this statement. You didn’t have to pay taxes. He had held arguments for hours on this topic with other people, and he always came out the victor. People would argue that if you didn’t pay taxes, you would eventually go to jail. He would argue back that the IRS could put you in jail for as long as they wanted and you still would not have to pay your taxes. When a friend or acquaintance said that they had to do something, Kent would interject with “The only thing you have to do is die.” It certainly was a topic for conversation, but so far, no one had proved him wrong. He liked controversy, and when he was in the mood, he really liked to piss people off.
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