Exposed

by C. M. Sutter

  Jack parked in a diagonal spot a few feet from the entrance to City News. We exited the cruiser and walked inside. A bell above the door dinged when we entered. Everything inside the front door looked the same as I remembered, down to the hard, wooden guest chairs lined up against the wall.

  A receptionist greeted us as we approached the counter.

  “Ma’am, we’re from the sheriff’s department and have a warrant for an advertiser’s records. Can you help us with that?”

  “Oh dear, of course not. I’ll get the office manager, Mr. Emerson.” The woman pushed back her chair and disappeared through a side door.

  Jack and I took seats on those uncomfortable wooden chairs near the entrance and waited. Just as Jack picked up the newspaper lying on a side table, a fortyish looking man came out through the same door the woman had entered. We stood and walked toward him.

  “Mr. Emerson?” I said.

  “Yes, officers, how can I help you?”

  Jack handed him the trifolded warrant. “Sir, we need the name and contact information for the person that placed the ad listed within this warrant.”

  Mr. Emerson unfolded the document and stared at it. “What’s this all about? Nobody called here for information.”

  “Would you have released that to us over the phone?” I asked.

  He scratched his balding head. “Probably not.”

  “Then we saved ourselves a useless phone call. Could you please get that information for us? Time is of the essence.”

  “Certainly, I’ll be right back.”

  Jack paced in front of the counter.

  “What’s wrong? Don’t like those chairs?” I smiled and paced too.

  The door opened again, and Mr. Emerson appeared with an invoice pinched between his fingers.

  “Here you go. Please let us know if you need anything else.”

  I glanced down at the invoice and had to hold my tongue until Jack and I got outside. “Thank you, sir.”

  Jack gave Mr. Emerson his card, then we shook his hand and left. The bell dinged at our backs.

  “Son of a bitch,” I said as I slammed the cruiser door behind me. “The ad belonged to Max Sims.”

  Chapter 12

  Jack backed the cruiser onto the street, hit the lights, then squealed the tires and took off. Taking Seventh Avenue was the quickest way to avoid all the stoplights and get out of the downtown area.

  “I have to tell Clark what we discovered.” I pulled my cell phone from my pants pocket. It slipped out of my grasp and tumbled into the footwell. “Damn it.” I unbuckled my seat belt, reached down, and fumbled in the darkened area until I felt its smooth shape. “Got it.”

  Jack glanced over. “Take a breath, Jade.”

  “Sorry, I’m just so pissed off.” With my phone tight in my grip, I scrolled through the names until I got to Clark’s desk phone number. I hit the call icon.

  “Jade, what’s up?”

  “Boss, it’s Max Sims.”

  “What is?”

  “The newspaper ad belonged to him. We’re on our way to his house. That son of a bitch did something to Deborah French. We’re running the siren and lights.”

  “Damn it, we’re on our way. Don’t approach the house until we’re there. Promise me, Jade.”

  “I promise, boss, just hurry.”

  Once Jack hit the freeway, he let loose and blew past every car on the road. It would take under ten minutes to reach the homestead.

  “I hope there are vests in the trunk,” Jack said. “That guy is no joke.”

  “My sidearm is no joke, either. We’re getting close, Jack. Kill the siren. He doesn’t need advance notice we’re coming.”

  Jack silenced the siren before we reached Highway G. The radio squawked, and I picked up. Clayton was calling from another cruiser. “What’s your location, Jade?”

  “We’re about two minutes from the house, and you?”

  “We’re about three minutes out. The boss said to hold tight. We have two squads dispatched too. You should be seeing them any second.”

  “Yep, I see lights approaching. Okay, we’re going to park behind a stand of trees a few hundred feet from the driveway and suit up. We’ll be waiting for you guys.”

  “Roger that.” Clayton clicked off.

  Jack pulled to the side of the road and killed the engine. “Ready for this, Jade?”

  “I’m more than ready. The poor girl could be held prisoner somewhere on that property. Is this payback because he’s getting booted out? He’s as clean as a whistle, for Pete’s sake. I don’t think he’s ever had a parking ticket.”

  “Who knows—maybe the eviction sent him over the edge. What kind of vehicle does Deborah have?”

  “Her mom said she has a black Corolla.”

  Jack nodded then jerked his head to the left. “The troops are here.”

  Two squads slowed to a stop behind our cruiser. Tim Donnelly and Aaron Silver got out of one, and Mike Ebert and Karen Lawrence climbed out of the second car. They approached our vehicle.

  “Sergeant, Detective, how do you want to do this?” Donnelly asked.

  I looked at them and noticed the thick padding under their shirts. “All of you are vested up, correct?”

  Every deputy nodded.

  “Good, then we wait for the lieutenant. They should arrive any minute. Right now all we know is a young lady has been missing for two days, and Max Sims was the last person to see her. Mr. Sims is a large, angry man. Keep your heads on a swivel and protect your partner.” I jerked my chin to the road behind the cars. “Here we go.”

  Two cruisers pulled up and stopped on the shoulder. Clayton and Billings exited one, and Lieutenant Clark, the other.

  “What have we got?” Clark asked. “Any movement from the farm?”

  “Haven’t checked yet, boss. We were waiting for everyone so we could coordinate a plan of action.”

  Clark pointed at the deputies. “Lawrence, get your binoculars out. Look for movement—you too, Silver.”

  “Yes, sir.” Lawrence grabbed the binoculars by the strap and pulled them out of the backseat. She propped her elbows on the squad car’s trunk to steady herself. Silver mimicked her stance at the squad car in front of hers.

  “I don’t see any movement, sir, not even a stray cat,” Lawrence said.

  “Silver?”

  “No, sir, not even by the barn, but I do see a ribbon of smoke. Looks like it’s coming from behind the milk house.”

  Clark grouped us together. “All right, we’re walking in. Use the trees for cover and stay low. He could be watching us from anywhere. Don’t forget about those outbuildings. Clear the summer kitchen and milk house first. We wouldn’t want him jumping out from behind one of those buildings. You know the family history, so stay vigilant. We’re taking him alive, people. It’s the only way to find out where Deborah French is. Any questions?”

  We all shook our heads.

  “Turn your radios and shoulder mics on, and be prepared for anything. Let’s go.”

  Jack and I led the way. The deputies followed us, and Clayton and Billings flanked the lieutenant. We communicated with hand signals as we approached and cleared the outbuildings. I ran for the barn while the deputies kept an eye on the windows on that side of the house. If Max was watching me, the deputies would see movement. Clayton covered me from the milk house, and Billings crouched behind a large boulder and watched the front door. Clark covered the porch, and Jack circled the perimeter of the barn to clear the outside.

  Voices crackled over my shoulder mic, each one giving me an ‘all clear’ from their position.

  “Jack, how does it look behind the barn?”

  “Nobody in sight. I’m coming up front. Wait for me.”

  I pressed myself against the side of the barn and out of sight of the house windows. Jack met up with me.

  “Ready to go in?”

  “Yep. We’ll pull the doors open and hit the ground. If Max is in there, he’ll have the advantage. We’
ll be sitting ducks with the sun at our backs. Get in and down fast. Crawl to the closest point of cover.”

  “Got it, partner. Let’s do it.”

  Jack grabbed the left handle, and I grabbed the right. On three, we both pulled the double doors open and hit the dirt. On hands and knees, we scurried to the nearest area of cover. Our eyes had to adjust to the darkness, and we had no idea if there were lights in the barn.

  I rolled over onto my back on that dusty floor and squinted at the walls. I was beginning to see outlines and shapes. I called out to Jack. “Everything okay where you are?”

  “I’m good. Max Sims, if you’re in here, come out where we can see you with your hands in the air. We’re armed, and we’ll use these guns if necessary.”

  The barn was silent until a scurry above my head made me spin with my gun drawn. Two pigeons flew out of the barn into the daylight. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  I pulled the flashlight out of my vest pocket and turned it on. The beam of light bounced off the wall boards. I saw the light switch on Jack’s side of the door.

  “Jack, follow the flashlight beam. The wall switch is by you.”

  “I see it.”

  I heard Jack crawl across the floor, then I saw a hand reach to where the wall was illuminated. He flipped the switch, and the barn lit up. I rose cautiously—there were way too many hiding places and plenty of dark corners.

  Jack’s eyes focused on the center of the barn. Mine followed, and I saw the same thing.

  “Holy shit.” I spoke into my shoulder mic, “Boss, we need a few more people to help clear the barn, and Deborah French’s car is sitting dead center in the middle of the room.”

  I heard the lieutenant curse and click off. Within a minute, Clayton and Billings were at our sides.

  It took forty-five minutes to clear the barn. While we were doing that, the deputies and Clark cleared the house. Max Sims, his van, and most likely Deborah French were in the wind.

  Clark met up with us in the barn and walked around Deborah’s car. He ground his hands into his scalp as he peered through the windows. “Her keys are in the ignition. We need Kyle and Dan out here to process this car. Let’s check out that smoldering fire.”

  Jack called the forensics department and gave Kyle the address. We needed them at the farm right away.

  We gathered around the mound of ash. On the ground lay remnants of paper that hadn’t burned completely away, along with a few glowing embers.

  Clark stared. “I’m guessing he burned everything that could prove interesting to us. There’s got to be a lot of ghosts in those closets.” Clark looked toward the house and shook his head.

  I imagined his memories of twenty years prior.

  “Jade, get on the horn and have Billy pull Max Sims’s license plate number. We need to put a BOLO out for that van. This has now elevated to a hostage situation.”

  “What’s left in the house, Lieutenant?” I asked.

  “Looks like everything”—Clark turned his head toward the ashes—“except whatever that stuff was.”

  With my arms crossed in front of my chest, I thought about our next move while I kicked a few coals around. “The question is, how long does it take for a fire to go out? Max couldn’t have gotten far.”

  Silver spoke up. “That depends, Sergeant. If it was only paper, probably not long, but if he threw a bunch of logs on top of everything to hold the papers down, this fire could have been started last night.”

  I looked at him quizzically, with raised brows.

  “I used to be a Boy Scout, ma’am.”

  “Uh-huh.” I smiled at Silver.

  “Kyle and Dan need to fingerprint the house before we start going through things. This certainly wasn’t on the agenda. I figured by this afternoon we’d be done with Max Sims and this property would be turned over to the developer.” Clark groaned.

  “Now what?” I asked.

  “Now I’ve got to call the mayor—this farm is a crime scene. Jade, I want you and Jack to go back to the station with me. The rest of you stay out here. Dan and Kyle shouldn’t be long. Help them with whatever they need.” Clark jerked his head. “Come on. Let’s go.”

  Back at the station, Clark, Jack, and I sat in the lieutenant’s office. I had just made a fresh pot of coffee—we all needed it.

  “What’s the plan, boss?” Jack asked.

  “We don’t know where he went or what Deborah’s condition is, but I want both of you to go to the French home and have a sit-down with the folks. They need to be told what’s going on. I have to explain this mess to the mayor. I’d hate to see that Swedish company pull out. I know this situation will push their groundbreaking back even more.”

  “The barn is clear other than the car. Dan and Kyle will take that back to the crime lab, anyway. The only thing in the house we care about is forensic evidence of Deborah being there. We kind of figured the belongings would be removed when they tore down the house, right?”

  Clark looked at me and wrinkled his forehead. “Yeah, so what are you getting at?”

  “Why can’t they start breaking ground? There’s nothing that says they have to start with the house. We just assumed they would to keep vandals out, but if there’s a police presence, vandals aren’t going to be an issue. The field will likely be the parking lot, so why not let them start there? They can hold the ceremony and take pictures far away from the house. It isn’t like the groundbreaking ceremony is open to the public, anyway.”

  Jack agreed and poured coffee into each of our cups.

  “Once forensics is done with the house, and our job there is complete, the developer can move forward in that area too.”

  “That might work as long as we temporarily cordon off the house. The rest of the property is theirs to start however they want.” Clark took a deep breath and sighed. “Okay, wish me luck. I’m sure this news isn’t going to make the mayor happy.”

  “Boss, a woman’s life is at stake. I’m sure he’ll understand.”

  Chapter 13

  After several attempts at finding the property, Max finally caught a glimpse of gravel hidden beneath weeds at the road’s edge. These days, everything was grown over and easily missed. He parked next to what looked to be the forgotten driveway and decided to walk in and check out the situation first.

  He climbed out of the van and looked both ways down the road. The vacation season was still several weeks away. School hadn’t ended yet, so most of the summer cottages along the road stood empty. The area was deserted—perfect in his opinion.

  What was once the driveway that led back to the small summer cabin now looked more like a deer path. He nearly stepped on a garter snake that slithered by as he walked the narrow trail.

  Max remembered his uncle’s cabin was a hundred yards off the road and north of the lake. When he was a kid, the families would gather several times at that cabin during the summer months. They’d swim and fish. Women would fry the fresh catch every night for dinner. Those were the normal days, the happy times before Darryl developed a bloodthirst and pulled Max into his murderous lifestyle.

  Max let go of those thoughts momentarily and continued on. He had no idea if the cabin still belonged to his father’s brother or if it had been sold years ago. From the looks of the driveway, he assumed it was abandoned. The weeds were deeper now, nothing but a tangled mess of high grasses, and the path began to disappear beneath his feet. He stopped and stared into the thick woods. Seeing anything more than fifty feet ahead was difficult. Max squinted and shielded his eyes with his hand. The sun filtered through the canopy and cast shadows on trees, yet the occasional ray would slip through the foliage and pierce the forest floor.

  Up ahead, he saw what he thought was a roofline. Max turned in that direction and walked another fifty feet. He found the cabin—dilapidated and abandoned. It would offer him a good place to hunker down until Darryl came up with a plan. The nearest town of Green River Falls was three miles up the road. Max could get Internet
service at most coffee shops since this was a high tourist area. Except for his large size, he could easily blend in with the summer crowd.

  Max reached the three wooden steps that led up to the porch. Missing and rotting boards made the porch floor a hazard. He’d have to watch where he walked. With a wide step, he crossed over an area with several suspicious boards and stood in front of the door. He gave it a shove—it resisted. Another hard push with his shoulder forced the door open. It creaked and scratched its way across the wide plank floors.

  Damn it, why don’t I have a flashlight? I may have to go into town right away.

  Max stepped in cautiously. The three-room cabin smelled musty. Critters scurried toward the open door. He stepped out to the porch again and unlatched the shutters that covered the windows. That offered him just enough light to see the layout of the main room. An old cast-iron stove stood at the far left side. Cabinets and a sink were next to it. He remembered that to be the kitchen area. A massive fieldstone fireplace covered the wall opposite the stove. A shredded couch, now home to dozens of field mice, stood against the north wall, and a wooden table and a few scattered chairs filled the rest of that room. Max treaded lightly, being mindful of the floorboards as he walked farther in. A small bathroom with a sink, toilet, and a corner shower was to his left, beyond the main room, and one bedroom with four twin beds was directly to the right. He peeked around the door to that room—the beds were questionable. Evidence of animals occupying the cabin was everywhere. It was time to go into town and get the necessary supplies.

  Green River Falls was a small tourist community with a year-round population of just over three thousand people. In the summer months, that population swelled to ten thousand. The area drew in visitors for the fishing, water sports, and gambling. A large casino that brought in thousands of people daily stood just east of town.

  Max hadn’t been to this part of Wisconsin since he was a kid. He grinned as he drove the main street of town and rubbernecked at several familiar stores that had withstood the test of time. At the local hardware store, he picked up a cooler, broom, several sponges, a lantern, and a mop bucket. The grocery store, located a short block away, provided food, beer, and ice.