by Mike Faricy
“It looks like he’s going to crash into shore at any moment,” I shouted back to Tommy.
“He going to run her aground, probably jump in the woods and hope we don’t follow,” Tommy said.
A moment later the pontoon came to an abrupt halt. I shined the torch and watched as Wegger pitched forward. He seemed to land on all fours, but just a moment or two later he was on his feet and jumping over the railing.
“See that? There he goes,” Tommy said, pushing the throttle forward and racing toward the shore. We were almost on top of the pontoon when he suddenly backed off and we seemed to almost come to a complete stop. He slowly came alongside of the pontoon, and I jumped over the railing, bounced off the mangled canvas top and landed on the deck. A woman, with a number of straps and buckles wrapped around her, looked at me wide eyed. A white cloth was tied over her mouth, gagging her.
“We’re here for you, Chrissy,” I said. I had my gun out and hurried past her toward the corner of the pontoon where Wegger had driven up onto the shore. There were a couple of footprints in the sand, one pretty deep, the other not so much, then nothing. With the jet boat idling behind and now the second boat rumbling in, I couldn’t hear anything or anyone moving through the woods. Not that I really wanted to pursue Wegger, anyway. But it would have been nice to know he wasn’t aiming at my head.
I hurried over to Chrissy and untied the gag.
“Oh, thank God,” she said, then took a deep breath and spat as I tossed the gag onto the deck. It turned out to be a Def Leopard t-shirt. “Is he around? I’m gonna kill the son-of-a-bitch. Are the kids okay?” she asked and then, just as suddenly, broke down into tears.
I began to unbuckle the belts and straps wrapped around her. “Yeah, Chrissy, are you all right? My name is Dev Haskell. Your sister, Bonnie, hired me. We’ve got the police coming right behind us. The kids are fine. They’re safe, Wayne is bringing them back to Bonnie’s.”
“Wayne? You mean to tell me that idiot’s mixed up in this? God, I should have known. Just you wait until I…”
“Don’t worry about him, he was with me, we saved the kids, and he’s bringing them back to Bonnie while we followed you.”
Tommy suddenly hopped aboard followed by a bald guy with a mustache and some kind of hunting rifle.
“You okay? I’m Pete Byron, Prescott police.”
“Yeah, yeah, I think we’re fine. Wegger, the guy who was driving this pontoon, jumped off and ran into the woods.”
The cop stepped back and turned off the engine on the pontoon. I’d been so jazzed I was unaware it was still running. “I’ll alert the proper authorities. Maybe a couple of you guys can help me secure this, just so it doesn’t drift back into the river. Then I suggest we back offshore, just to be on the safe side. Ma’am, what’s your situation? Are you in need of any emergency attention?”
“I got a sunburn and I want to kill that bastard.”
“I’ll consider that as positive,” he smiled. “I can bring you back to Prescott, just to be safe, I’m sure this has been traumatic. I’d suggest a night at least under observation. Talking from experience, there’s usually a crash once the adrenaline slows down and you start to collect your thoughts.”
“Would it be all right if we brought her back to Afton? It’s that much closer to her family and home.”
“I can call emergency services and have them meet you. Obviously, they’re going to want to talk with you, get a statement, probably ask you some questions. What marina are you out of?”
Tommy gave him his address, we secured the pontoon, helped Chrissy onto the jet boat and headed up river. By the time we reached Tommy’s house there was a pretty steady rain coming down. An ambulance was waiting in the driveway, along with a car from the sheriff’s department. Chrissy was shivering pretty badly, and what Pete had suggested seemed to be happening. She was starting to collect her thoughts, crashing, and probably should be medicated at least for the night. I gave a quick statement to the Washington County sheriff, then we followed him back to Stillwater. My phone picked up service as we approached Afton, and I called Bonnie and brought her up to date.
By the time I was finished at the sheriff’s department giving a statement and being interviewed, the sun was about to come up. Tommy and the other two guys, I never did get their names or if I did I’d forgotten, were long gone. I drove Wegger’s Cadillac Escalade home and climbed into bed.
Chapter Forty-Eight
My phone kept ringing and I had to crawl out of bed, dig it out of the pocket on my jeans to finally answer it. “Yeah,” I croaked.
“Where are you?” It was Bonnie.
“What time is it?”
“It’s after eleven, I’m at the hospital with Chrissy. We’re just waiting for the doctor to come in and release her, then we have to go to the Stillwater Sheriff’s department to make a statement.”
“Are the kids okay?”
“Yeah, they’re fine. A little wild, but they’re fine. I brought them to my mom’s this morning. How are you?”
“Good, good. If you’re there at the hospital, where’s Iggy?”
“He’s at home, going over the system, making sure everything is okay.”
“Is it?”
“Far as I know, yeah.”
“Luscious is still watching Iggy?”
“Yes, well, and Morton, and Wayne. Thank God he knocked the power out, otherwise who knows what would have happened?”
“Wayne told you he knocked the power out?”
“Yeah, right after he rescued the kids, he, ummm, sort of spent the night. I mean, he was tired and all, and after having to fight Wegger and his brother, I just wasn’t sure he should be driving.”
“I’m going to head over there now. With Wegger out there somewhere on the loose, there’s still a slim chance he’ll try something.”
“Okay, I’m not sure when we’ll be home. The doctor has to check out Chrissy and then, like I said, she has to give her statement to the sheriff’s department.”
“I’ll see you when I see you,” I said and hung up.
I took a quick shower, more or less woke up, filled a travel mug with coffee, then climbed in Wegger’s Escalade and drove over to Bonnie’s.
Luscious and Wayne were watching cartoons on the living room couch. Four large pizza delivery boxes were scattered across the coffee table. Wayne’s head was tilted back and he was holding a piece of pizza above his mouth. It dawned on me that maybe that was just the way the guy ate pizza. As the pizza dangled, his eyes rolled toward the top of his head to see who was coming up the stairs.
“Whoa, man, you just getting back now? What’d you do, hitch-hike? Should have called, we could have had your buddy, Luscious, here, drive out there in that piece-of-shit car of yours and give you a lift.”
“Thanks for thinking of me, Wayne. Not to worry, I’ve been back for awhile. You know, just tying up some loose ends after you rescued the kids and knocked the power out last night. You tired after kicking the shit out of Niles and Delmar Wegger?”
Wayne’s head lurched upward and he took a huge bite of pizza. He tossed the remainder of the piece back in the box, then proceeded to wipe his hands off on his t-shirt, this one advertised Iggy Pop. “Sorry about that, pal. Guess I sort of got carried away with the emotion of the moment. Bonnie was so happy to see the kids and all, I didn’t want to ruin the fun. I can tell you this much, it worked. I mean she was really thankful. Whoa! I mean, really.” He winked, smiled, and flashed both hands, giving me the double thumbs up.
His back was to Luscious, who looked at me suggesting something like ‘Just say the word’, then he pounded his fist into the palm of his hand. I shook my head no, then said, “I’m just going to check on Iggy, downstairs. Don’t let me interrupt the pizza you guys got.”
“Yeah, hey, thanks, good thing they had your credit card on file. Man, that Iggy guy, dude, talk about a fruitcake,” Wayne said.
I reconsidered Luscious’s offer for a moment, then headed downstairs.
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br /> Chapter Forty-Nine
I knocked on Iggy’s door a couple of times before a timid voice from the other side answered, “Who, who’s there?”
“Iggy, it’s Dev Haskell. Are you all right?”
I heard the rustle of Mylar just before the door opened. “Well, I see you survived,” he said. I noticed he was back to working in the dark, and I wondered if Wayne’s appearance had anything to do with that.
“Yes, I’m fine, thank you. More importantly, any problem with Wegger gaining access?”
“Not that I’ve been able to discover. Have they captured him yet?”
“If they have, no one has informed me. As far as I know, he is, or was, on foot and the police are actively searching for him. They have a description, know where his home in town is as well as his place over on the St. Croix. That’s where he was planning to gain access to your system, by the way, his place on the St. Croix. It’s where we knocked out the power.”
“Yes, I heard a version of that tale,” Iggy said, sounding skeptical then he raised his head toward the upper floor and Wayne.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad Wegger couldn’t get into your system. I should tell you, he had a number of laptops lined up on two desks and they…”
“How many?”
“Laptops? There were six, all lined up next to one another on a couple of desks. I unplugged all of them and hid them under a couch. Matter of fact, now that I think about it, I don’t believe I mentioned that to the police, I should probably let them know.”
“I know after Bonnie’s report of the kidnapping last night the police have been at his home here in town,” Iggy said. “I’m unable to gain any active access to his system, so I’m pretty sure they’ve taken everything into custody. They’ve also received three anonymous reports of child pornography on his system. That program I embedded should have automatically landed on those laptops as well. It’s only a matter of time before they realize what they have sitting in front of them. Once they do get hold of him, he’s going to be looking at the sort of sentence that will essentially mean life without parole.”
“Good riddance,” I said. “But just to be sure, he didn’t gain access, correct?”
“Yes, that’s correct. That said, until he’s in custody he remains a danger, wherever he is.”
“Understood.”
“It would be nice to have things return back to a semblance of normal, perhaps have certain parties leave the premises.”
“I’ll see what I can do on that front.”
I left Iggy working on his computer and headed back upstairs.
Wayne was still in front of the flat screen watching cartoons. Luscious was out on the back deck, eating a large piece of pizza and throwing bits over the railing to Morton down below.
“Hey, Wayne, I’m thinking you’d better head out.”
“What the hell for? Oh, let me take a wild guess, you’re just jealous of the all action I got last night and…”
“No, I’m just thinking of you. We got the police on their way. They’re going to take another statement from me, no doubt ask some more questions. If I recall, despite your success last night, Bonnie still has that restraining order filed against you. They get here and you’re laying around, they can arrest you. Matter of fact, from what I know, it’s against the law for them not to arrest you.”
He leaned forward, took a piece of pizza and bit the end off, then tossed it back in the box. I did a quick count, six of the nine pieces had the pointed end bitten off. “When are they coming over?” he said through a mouthful of pizza.
“Actually, they’re on their way, but that was about twenty minutes ago. So they should be pulling up in front at any moment.”
“No shit, God, why the hell didn’t you say something? I gotta get going, man, have Bonnie call me when she get’s back. Soon as she ditches that wicked witch of a sister of hers, I’ll be back.”
“Yeah, I’ll be sure to pass that on, Wayne. Always nice talking with you.”
“Later, Dude,” he said, then hurried down the stairs and out the front door.
“Promise me he’s not coming back. The man has absolutely nothing to offer,” Luscious said as he walked in from the deck.
“I hope we’ve seen the last of him, talk about the original bad check. God help me, but I want to throw him off the deck.”
Chapter Fifty
Things more or less quieted down after that. Chrissy was released from the hospital sometime after the noon hour. Once she filed her police report, Bonnie dropped her home, picked up the kids, and things seemed to return to whatever normal is with three kids and a Mom who works. Iggy never did find any breach to their programs. Bonnie asked for and received an extension on returning to Seattle. That gave them three more days, with the weekend, before she flew back there. Wayne had phoned a couple of times, but she seemed to successfully brush him off. I didn’t hear so much as a peep from him while she was in Seattle.
I picked her up at the airport Wednesday evening. “So, what’s the word?”
“Looks like they’re going to go for it. My God, I have to pinch myself to make sure this is all really happening. How are the kids?”
“I think they’re doing great. No signs, at least that I can pick up, of any long-term effects from their dealing with Wegger. Your sister was over every day and took them either to her place or your mom’s. Iggy seems happy enough, he had the lights off for a couple of days, but they were back on again this morning, at least one or two, anyway. I’d say everyone is doing just fine.”
“Any news?”
“News? You mean, Wegger?”
“No, I wanted to know how the Twins were doing. Yes, I mean Wegger, anything happening on that front?”
“About all that’s happened is we seem to have more police cars cruising through your neighborhood. That’s not a bad thing by the way, but other than that, nothing. They had his picture in the paper, he and his brother, as well as on the news for two nights. I don’t know if that did any good, but maybe someone will spot them. The city impounded his car, the Cadillac, and I sent Luscious over to his house and the Jaguar was gone. The house was sealed by the police so I’m guessing they also confiscated his computers. I checked with Iggy just this morning, he’s unaware of any activity.”
“So I guess that’s a good thing,” she said.
“Yeah, as far as it goes. Maybe he’s too busy being on the run to worry about you and Iggy. On the other hand, I’d feel a lot better knowing he was locked up somewhere.”
“Yeah, I guess. You know, they want us out there, in Seattle, Iggy and I.”
“For how long?” I asked. I was about at the end of my rope as far as babysitting kids and Iggy.
“They didn’t just hint, they stated unequivocally they wanted us out there by month’s end.”
“Month’s end? That’s in like three weeks. How long will you have to be there?”
“They’re talking about moving us there, Dev. Permanently.”
“Three weeks? That’s nuts, you’d have to put your house on the market, get J.D. in school, daycare for the kids, find a place to live.”
“All of that’s already taken care of.”
“What?”
“Yeah, they get three appraisals, pay me the average and buy the house. They’re giving us a place to live in for a year, free. I’ve been through it, it’s gorgeous. I can extend at the end of the year if I need to. They have a number of day care facilities onsite for the kids. I’m going to look at schools, I mean, it all works.”
“What about Iggy?”
“Interesting. How should I say this? They have a number of people like him. They have some socialization programs he can attend, plus they’re in the process of establishing a lab for him to work out of. I think I can convince him.”
“Tell them to stock up on tinfoil.”
“Yeah,” she laughed. “I guess what I’m saying is, I don’t think I’m going to need your services anymore.”
/> Actually, that was music to my ears. “You sure? Like I said, we still have no idea where Wegger is or what he’s planning.”
“It’s actually too late for him, Dev. Iggy’s already been exchanging information, sending programs. Right now, Wegger is just a real bad bump in the road, but it’s too late for him to do any harm, at least through us. Listen,” she turned sideways in the seat and faced me. “One of the big reasons he’s just a bump in the road is because of all you’ve done for us. I mean, if it wasn’t for you, none of this would have happened, or if it did we’d have our asses sued off once Wegger’s little take on things came to light. I don’t know how I can thank you.”
“Well, you can pay my bill right away, that would help.”
“I think I can do that,” she said.
I dropped her off, said my goodbyes to Iggy and the kids, then Morton and I drove Luscious home in the Lancer. He was in the back seat with Morton.
“Tell you what, Dev. Maybe you should drop me off at the grocery store. I need to stock up, and there’s a Domino’s right next door. I could just get a little something to go, you know, just to tide me over until breakfast.”
“You sure, Luscious? I feel like, I don’t know, after we’ve been together for this long, I kind of feel like I’m just casting you adrift.”
“Adrift, Dev? Me, in a grocery store? I don’t think so. You just watch the mail for my bill. That’s all I need you to do.”
“Okay, Luscious, long as you’re okay with that, so am I.”
I pulled in front of the entrance to the grocery store and stopped. Some guy behind me started to lean on the horn, but as soon as Luscious climbed out and looked at him the honking stopped, the car reversed into the lot, then quickly drove off the way he came. “Thanks again, Dev. Morton, I’ll see you later, boy,” he said, then patted Morton on the head.
Morton gave a long whine when Luscious closed the door and headed into the grocery store.
“Relax pal, we’re going home to sleep in our own bed, the whole night through. No pulling shifts at two in the morning and again at six. No more Wayne. No more talking to computer guys in the dark. We’re back to normal… whatever that is.”
